President,

I thank France, Bahrain, Greece, and Latvia for jointly initiating this meeting. I also thank Mr. Rodrigo Saad, Dr. Giacomo Persi Paoli, and Ms. Naomi Miyashita for their briefings.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, profoundly transforming the way humanity works and lives, while also bringing unprecedented opportunities and challenges to international peace and security. China supports the United Nations in playing the role of the main channel in global AI governance and calls on the international community to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, uphold a people-centered approach and develop AI for the positive and for good, so that AI can serve as an important driving force for promoting common prosperity and safeguarding common security. I would like to emphasize the following points.

First, we should promote AI for good. The development of AI technologies must always contribute to human well-being and conform to the common values of humanity and basic ethical norms. The purposes and principles of the UN Charter and applicable international law must be observed. We oppose the use of technological advantages to infringe upon the sovereignty of other countries or interfere in their internal affairs. Countries should take a prudent and responsible approach to the research, development, and application of AI in the military domain, avoid strategic miscalculation and arms races, and at the same time abide by international humanitarian law and oppose the use of relevant weapons in indiscriminate attacks or deliberate attacks against civilians.

Second, we should ensure that AI is secure and controllable. The development of AI is accompanied by various inherent and derivative risks. Countries should work to establish systems covering laws and regulations, technical monitoring, risk early warning, and emergency response, so as to ensure that AI always remains under human control. Data security and personal privacy should be protected, and oversight of deepfakes, algorithmic discrimination, data misuse, and other such practices should be strengthened. We should guard against cyber theft and attacks and combat the malicious use and abuse of AI technologies by terrorists, extremist forces, and transnational criminal groups.

Third, we should uphold openness and inclusiveness. AI is the product of the collective wisdom of humanity, and the benefits of its development should be shared by people of all countries. It must not become “a game only for the rich countries and the wealthy.” We should work to bridge the digital and AI divides, increase financial, technological, and capacity-building support for developing countries, and enhance their representation and voice in global governance. The digital sovereignty of all countries should be respected, and all countries should have the right to independently choose AI technologies. At the same time, we should uphold the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and jointly foster an open, inclusive, beneficial, and non-discriminatory environment for scientific and technological development. We oppose forcing countries to take sides or inciting bloc confrontation, and oppose overstretching the concept of national security and maliciously suppressing companies of other countries.

Fourth, we should strengthen the peaceful use of AI. AI is empowering all sectors and industries and providing broad opportunities for addressing global challenges in such areas as food, health, energy, and climate change. In accordance with their respective mandates and in light of local conditions, UN missions should explore the use of AI technologies to enhance their capabilities in situational awareness, information analysis, risk early warning, and rapid response, and to carry out ceasefire monitoring, conflict prevention, protection of civilians, humanitarian assistance, development support, and other tasks more effectively. It must be emphasized that AI is only an auxiliary tool and cannot replace diplomatic efforts such as dialogue and negotiation, mediation, and good offices. In deploying intelligent equipment, collecting and using data, releasing sensitive information, and considering major decisions, UN missions should respect the sovereignty of the countries concerned and maintain full communication with their governments.

President,

China has always participated constructively in the process of global AI governance and actively provided international public goods. Since President Xi Jinping proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative, China has promoted the adoption by consensus of the UN General Assembly Resolution on Enhancing International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence, released the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All, and put forward the AI Plus International Cooperation Initiative. At China's initiative, the World Artificial International Cooperation Organization was established in Shanghai this July. This is a major step by China to respond to the call of the Global South and unite the international community in actively advancing AI development and governance. It also serves as a useful complement to the UN process of AI governance. China stands ready to work with all countries to seize the opportunities and meet the challenges brought by AI development, and join hands to create a brighter future for humanity.

Thank you, President.