China’s open-source AI offers a more inclusive global model

China's advances in open-source artificial intelligence and its large-scale industrial application offer a more inclusive path for global AI development, experts said at the Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026), held on Oct 11 in Beijing's Tongzhou district. The dialogue was hosted by Renmin University of China (RUC) and organized by its Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies and its School of Global Leadership.

At the discussion of how AI can empower industrial innovation, John Ross, a former director of economic and business policy for the mayor of London, framed China's AI advantage around what he called "cost innovation" — bringing mature products to market at a fraction of the price through technological improvement rather than cheap labor. He described a strategy refined by China over four decades, whereby companies first capture markets with "products offering 90 percent of the performance at half the price", then move on to original product development. He said most countries lack the scale to develop frontier AI on their own and have to obtain it from abroad. A higher-cost model would weigh on their economies, he argued, while China's lower-cost, open-source approach serves their interests, which is why other countries have reason to support China's AI development.

Sergei Glazyev, state secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and an academician at the Russian Academy of Sciences, highlighted the openness of Chinese AI, which is "oriented to civilian needs", including improving manufacturing, raising living standards and serving mass consumption. This model puts advanced technology at the service of broad-based economic and social development, benefiting everyday production and ordinary consumers alike.

Jin Canrong, a professor at the School of International Studies at RUC, shifted the focus to governance, stressing that AI would be very dangerous if it got out of control. He said that the development of AI should not be a zero-sum game. Instead, it should be more inclusive rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few countries.

By 2025, the country's core AI industry had surpassed 1.2 trillion yuan (about $170 billion), with over 6,000 related companies and Chinese AI patents accounting for 60 percent of the global total, according to Lou Chunhao, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. But he also warned of "Engels' pause" in the AI era — the risk of rising productivity alongside stagnant real wages. He called for international cooperation, because countries' complementary strengths could make AI development more inclusive for the international community.

Vijay Prashad, executive director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, grounded the discussion on basic infrastructure, saying that reliable electricity is a prerequisite before AI can benefit the Global South. In Kenya, 23 percent of the population still lacks access to electricity — they are unable to charge phones or use computers, let alone AI. More broadly, he said China has "broken the assumption that advanced technology can only be produced within the Atlantic monopoly", and gives scientists across the Global South new confidence: They, too, can become producers and users of AI, not just its raw material mines.

The Mingde Strategic Dialogue is a high-level academic platform for international exchange established by RUC in 2024. The program aims to contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, deepen mutual learning among civilizations and build strategic trust between China and the rest of the world.