China’s Xi Jinping declares Beijing champion of new global AI order

Xi Jinping just told the world that China intends to write the rules for artificial intelligence.

Speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 17, the Chinese president delivered his first major public address on AI safety and governance, proposing the creation of an entirely new international body called the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO. The organization would rope in 29 countries, predominantly from the Global South, to collaboratively develop AI governance standards under Beijing’s umbrella.

A new AI bloc, no blockchain in sight

Here’s what’s notable about Xi’s keynote: not a single mention of blockchain, crypto assets, or decentralized technologies. Zero. In a sweeping address about the future of global technology governance, the entire decentralized stack was treated as if it didn’t exist.

Xi championed open-source AI models, which might sound philosophically aligned with crypto’s ethos of open collaboration. But the framing was entirely different. Open-source, in Beijing’s telling, means state-backed models shared with partner nations on China’s terms.

The WAICO proposal targets developing nations specifically, offering them access to Chinese AI capabilities and governance frameworks.

China’s national AI plan, originally laid out in 2017, set the goal of achieving global leadership in artificial intelligence by 2030. Xi’s Shanghai address suggests Beijing believes it’s on track, or at least wants the world to think so.

The great tech bifurcation

If 29 countries align their AI development with China’s centralized framework, that’s a massive portion of the Global South building tech infrastructure that has no native integration point with decentralized systems.

The contrast with the US approach is becoming increasingly stark. Washington has been moving toward regulatory frameworks that accommodate both AI and crypto. China’s vision has no room for any of that.

What this means for crypto investors

AI-adjacent crypto tokens face a narrowing addressable market if a significant bloc of nations adopts China’s centralized playbook. That doesn’t mean these projects are dead. It means their growth story becomes more US and Europe-centric, at least in the medium term.

Investors should also pay attention to which of the 29 WAICO target nations have active crypto ecosystems. Countries like Nigeria, Vietnam, and India have been among the world’s most enthusiastic crypto adopters. If their governments sign onto a Chinese-led AI framework that is structurally hostile to decentralized technology, that could create tension between grassroots crypto adoption and top-down technology policy.

For now, the signal from Shanghai is clear: the world’s second-largest economy sees AI governance as a centralized, state-directed project.

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