AI has potential to write new chapter of regional cooperation

The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit opened in Nanning, China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Thursday. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishing of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Under the strategic guidance of leaders of both sides, China and ASEAN have engaged in fruitful practical cooperation in various areas and built increasingly closer economic and trade ties.

Deeper trade and investment ties between China and ASEAN, especially collaboration in artificial intelligence, including localized large language models that Chinese companies have co-developed with their ASEAN counterparts, are injecting fresh dynamism into regional growth and delivering tangible benefits to communities across Southeast Asia.

As the two sides advance high-quality economic cooperation under the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, AI has emerged as a new frontier for win-win cooperation.

Rather than exporting generic AI models trained mainly on Western languages, Chinese tech players are partnering with local institutions in ASEAN member countries to build and fine-tune large language models adapted to regional languages, cultural contexts and domestic industrial needs.

These Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese multilingual models break the language barriers that once hindered cross-border commerce, public services and knowledge exchange.

Chinese tech company iFlytek’s multilingual AI transparent screens, for instance, have been deployed at two major shopping destinations in Bangkok, offering real-time translation and convenience services to travelers from around the world. Meanwhile, the company’s GuideX digital human at Thailand’s Don Mueang International Airport provides interactive consultation in more than 30 languages, including Thai, Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean.

Such AI cooperation stretches far beyond technological research. These localized large language models power practical applications across agriculture, cross-border e-commerce, smart port clearance, public health and disaster early warning.

For small and medium-sized enterprises — the backbone of the ASEAN economies — AI tools lower operational costs, match overseas buyers and sellers automatically and streamline logistics, helping local companies participate more deeply in regional industry and supply chains. For ordinary residents, AI ensures better access to educational resources, medical consultation and climate risk alerts, directly improving people’s livelihoods.

Such AI partnerships embody the vision of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. In contrast to tech practices that impose one-size-fits-all formulas, China-ASEAN AI collaboration respects each country’s digital sovereignty, prioritizes local demands and jointly builds regional computing infrastructure and talent pipelines. Innovation centers, training workshops and industry pilot programs enable ASEAN partners to master AI deployment capabilities, laying a foundation for long-term, independent digital development.

In a global landscape marked by tech fragmentation and rising protectionism, China-ASEAN AI cooperation offers a model of open, inclusive technological exchange. It boosts two-way investment, expands digital trade and creates more high-skilled jobs across the region. By pooling strengths in large-model development and industrial application, China and ASEAN can unlock more of the potential of the regional economy and ensure that digital dividends reach every corner of Southeast Asia.

Going forward, deeper coordination on responsible AI governance will support safer and more sustainable innovation. Anchored in mutual respect and shared growth, high-level China-ASEAN trade and investment cooperation driven by AI will continue to energize regional prosperity and lift the well-being of people on both sides.

China is also ready to work with ASEAN countries and make full use of the platforms of the China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit to further unleash cooperation potential in various fields, achieve mutual benefit at a higher level, and build an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.