President Xi Jinping spoke on Friday at the opening of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), China’s largest annual event for the AI industry.

Xi’s personal attendance elevated the conference’s profile, and signalled AI development has become both a technological imperative and a cornerstone of China’s geopolitical strategy.

As Washington maintains strict export controls on advanced semiconductors and restricts overseas access to top AI models, Beijing has accelerated its drive for tech self-reliance.

To further support AI development, Xi says, in the next five years, China will provide developing countries – including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Arab League, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the African Union, Latin American countries and the Brics bloc – with 5,000 research projects in AI, as well as training, seminar programmes and “cooperation centres”.

China has made artificial intelligence a national strategic priority, investing across models, chips and computing infrastructure as it seeks greater technological self-reliance under US export controls.

Domestic developers have also increasingly embraced open-source models as a route to wider global adoption. The latest example came on Thursday, when Beijing-based Moonshot AI launched Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter model with native visual understanding and a one-million-token context window, designed for coding, knowledge work and deep reasoning.

Xi says 2026, the inaugural year of China’s 15th five-year plan, maps out an “immense opportunity” for the international community.

“As a responsible major country, China is always committed to providing international public goods relating to AI.”

He adds the size of China’s “core smart economy industries” has exceeded 1 trillion yuan (US$148 billion).

“With AI advancing at a staggering speed, we must ensure its development is positive, for the good and for humanity,” Xi says, adding AI must be guided with human wisdom and international consensus.

The Chinese already dominate the list of planet’s top performing dockyards, with seven out of ten spots, according to a recent World Bank/ S&P Global study.

And now conflicts are troubling two of their few rivals on the chart.

Oman and Qatar are under fire, literally, as their decision to host US military bases has made them legitimate targets for Iranian missiles. International law says countries have the right to retaliate against a military assault.

Qatar has the biggest US military base in West Asian. Oman has multiple smaller ones.

‘WE’VE SEEN THIS ONE BEFORE’

For port operators and shippers in West Asia/ Middle East, the US-Israel attack on Iran is a bizarrely repeated nightmare.

Before the 28 February attack on Iran, they faced similar problems, when ships delivering weapons and other goods to Israel were interrupted in the Red Sea by Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthi), who were protesting against the killings and destruction in Gaza.

Global shippers have not failed to notice that both of these mega-problems were rooted in expansionist military actions by Israel and the United States.

.PANAMA HAT-TRICK

The tragedy of hostile politics ruining trade is not just confined to two locations in West Asia.

Panama in Central America had one of the most efficient sea terminal operations in its region, run by cargo specialists from Hong Kong’s port operations, ultimately held by CK Holdings, a Li Ka-shing family business.

But after Donald Trump threatened to invade the country to “take” the terminals from “Chinese soldiers”, the Panamanian government threw out the Hong Kongers, causing immeasurable harm to its operations and blackening its own reputation.

.WHAT’S THE SECRET OF HIGH PERFORMANCE?

Researchers created a Container Port Performance Index by tracking the data of more than 400 ports worldwide and measuring how long ships spend at each location.

They discovered that Chinese ports operated with notable efficiency in unloading and sending ships on their way, while dockyards elsewhere were often hit with blockages and tailbacks.

Researchers praised Ningbo, in China’s Zhejiang province, for its capacity, automation and “operational discipline”.

.SOCIALISM AND CAPITALISM

China has the advantage of healthy socialism, with the authorities making solid investments in infrastructure, analysts say.

But it also has the advantage of healthy capitalism, with high levels of competition forcing operators to be fast and cheap.

As a result, some places most people have never heard of (such as Mawan, a “smartport” in Shenzhen) have achieved world-class status, seemingly coming from nowhere to score higher than famous docks like Rotterdam in Europe.

ACCORDING TO IRGC AND ARMY PUBLIC RELATIONS: The eleventh wave of Operation Nasr 2 has just delivered a blow that should SHATTER American confidence forever.

IRGC aerospace forces launched a SURPRISE ATTACK on the enemy's special operations command center in TANF, SYRIA ... destroying radar systems, special operations helicopters, and CAPTURING A LARGE NUMBER OF AMERICAN FORCES.

Please read that again....The western media will never report this truth. And Trump will keep pretending all is ok. Iran do not lie. And they have no time for games.

This is not damage. This is HUMILIATION. US troops in chains, US equipment in flames, US impunity ENDED.

The operation ... code-named "MUBARAK OR ABU ABDULLAH AL-HUSSEIN" ... was dedicated to the martyred soldiers of Bampour Iranshahr, murdered by American missiles the night before. REVENGE HAS BEEN EXACTED IN BLOOD AND STEEL.

FULL CONTROL OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ REMAINS IN IRANIAN HANDS.

The Army spokesman made it absolute: "Not a single drop of oil or gas will be exported from this region" while American evil continues. The route Iran has determined is safe. Any other route is DANGER. Tankers are already being hit ... a vessel struck near Khasab, Oman. The King Fahd Bridge connecting Bahrain to Saudi Arabia ... BOMBED. The artery is SEVERED.

THE TWELFTH WAVE STRIKES KUWAIT.

Army Public Relations confirms Operation Lightning's twelfth phase: Arash drones targeted US deployment and logistical support centers in Kuwait. The message is clear: "Relying on history, popular support, experience and combat readiness, we stand alert and strong against any pressure or threat."

US BASES ACROSS THE REGION ARE BURNING.

Bahrain. Kuwait. Qatar. Jordan. Iraq. ALL UNDER MISSILE AND DRONE ATTACK. Arab sources confirm US oil refineries and military installations in Bahrain DIRECTLY HIT. The empire that projected invincibility is EXPOSED AS VULNERABLE in every corner of its regional occupation.

THE SAUDIS FINALLY SEE THE TRUTH.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan ... after years of licking American boots ... now admits: "The era of relying on the U.S. is over. How can Trump protect us when he cannot even protect his own country?" The puppet has CUT THE STRINGS. When your protector cannot defend his own bases, his own soldiers, his own CAPTURED TROOPS IN SYRIA ... you find new allies. Or you BOW TO THE REGIONAL POWER THAT ISN'T LOSING.

THE RESISTANCE PUTS A BOUNTY ON TRUMP'S HEAD.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq ... answering Trump's Soleimani boast ... has offered $10 MILLION DOLLAR BOUNTY ON TRUMP DEAD OR ALIVE. The criminal who ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani now HUNTED BY HIS OWN VICTIMS. Let him hide in bunkers. Let him tremble. The price on his head is SET.

AMERICA'S DESPERATION IS SHOWING.

Open source intelligence tracks MASSIVE US AIRLIFT from Europe ... 10 C-17s from Germany, P-8 Poseidon from Italy, KC-135R tankers and C-17s from American soil, all rushing to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE. The empire is REINFORCING FAILURE. Pouring troops into a region where they are NO LONGER WELCOME and NO LONGER SAFE.

Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth BOASTS on X about destroying Chabahar port's control tower. Iranian FM Araghchi answers: "WAR CRIMES." Eight killed. Twenty wounded. Infrastructure destroyed. And still ... STILL ... the Iranian chant from Enghelab Square rings out: "ONE WORD: REVENGE."

The Persian Empire endures. The American empire FRACTURES. And the Saudis ... finally, belatedly ... SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL.

THE PERSIANS HAVE BEEN ON THIS GROUND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IT'S TIME TRUMP UNDERSTAND THAT...THEY WILL NEVER BOW.

If trump cognitive disorder is too serious to reason with his brains and negotiate, or his greed is so insatiable to let go of. There will be nothing but destruction on both sides.

To the Iranians it's survival. To Trump and his criminal oligarchs, it's business, it's a heist to steal resources. And American soldiers will die for Trump's dirty business. It's a shame.

Donald Trump used the imprimatur of the presidency and United States intelligence agencies to try to undermine confidence in American elections in a presidential address on Thursday that seemed bluntly aimed at laying the groundwork for further destabilizing the electoral system before November’s midterm elections.

In his address from the East Room at the White House, Trump attempted to give the impression that his administration had uncovered new bombshell findings about vulnerabilities in the US’s election system. China, he claimed, had illicitly acquired voter information on 220 million Americans (many states allow anyone to buy voter roll information; Trump did not say the means by which the nation acquired the data). He claimed that China interfered in other ways to undermine his 2020 campaign and that the information had been suppressed by intelligence officials.

Trump’s claims about election vulnerabilities were already investigated by intelligence officials, who concluded with high confidence in 2021 that China “did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election”. A minority view included in that public report by the the national intelligence officer for cyber argued: “China took at least some steps to undermine former President Trump’s reelection chances, primarily through social media and official public statements and media.” But even the dissenting view concluded “we have no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes”.

The White House released a tranche of formerly classified materials on Thursday attempting to try to undercut that conclusion. But the documents were heavily redacted, making it hard to assess what exactly they said. At least some of the documents released on Thursday also appeared to undercut the idea that China intended to interfere in the 2020 election. Conducting a review of the documents, CNN concluded there wasn’t much new in them. Instead of offering smoking-gun evidence, the release seemed to be a return to a classic Trump strategy of flooding the zone with information in an attempt to muddy the waters and make uncertain what was true.

The US constitution gives Trump no power over elections, instead giving it to the states. But perhaps the most sinister line of his speech on Thursday came towards the end, when Trump said his administration would be taking more action to try to take control over elections. The Department of Homeland Security, he said, was holding a briefing tomorrow to discuss vulnerabilities in state voting systems and would order states to remove noncitizens from the rolls.

Out of 36 countries surveyed, 25 now have a more favorable view of China than the US, a new Pew study showed yesterday.

A thumbs-up for China is very visible in data from across Asia, Europe, Africa, and elsewhere—and even from Trump loyalist countries such as Argentina.

“Americans’ nearest neighbors – Canadians and Mexicans – also view China more positively than the U.S.,” said Pew Research, a US survey firm.

BUYING LOYALTY

The study of three dozen countries showed that the US was viewed more positively than China in only six countries in the study, including three in which Washington has purchased loyalty, largely by fearmongering-based militarization: Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.

The study also showed that many people across the planet have more confidence in Chinese leader Xi Jinping to make positive decisions for the world than US President Donald Trump.

The study said more people believed the US had more “freedom”, but without defining the term.

FAILURE OF DEMONIZATION OPS

The results show a catastrophic failure of the billion-dollar-a-year effort to demonize China, which includes hundreds of operations – including those run by National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a CIA-spin off that has financed thousands of groups, including the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

The US this year admitted that the NED was a political interference group which "destabilizes sovereign governments".

The continuing loss of trust in the international mainstream media (which is the western mainstream media) will also have played a part.

The change of views has also come about because the huge rise in new voices, with independent media groups and citizen journalists using social media to debunk false US narratives on Greater China, including Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

PEW ALSO GUILTY

Pew itself will have played a role. In the past, it used to be notorious for producing surveys which apparently showed China in a bad light.

The studies, presented in the media as global, were actually focused almost entirely on results from US and US-allied countries, conditioned by the media to be harshly negative on the Chinese.

In contrast, this week’s new Pew survey has a much wider frame of reference, highlighting views of three dozen countries around the world, not just US allies.

So even though it is just 36 countries, it is a far more valid than Pew’s own previous studies of the same question.

But this could all change, with anti-China propaganda groups still being cashed-up. The NED is still active, and the notorious Radio Free Asia is being relaunched in Washington DC.