China will participate in India's forthcoming AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, marking a notable development in regional technology diplomacy and adding momentum to India's effort to position itself as a convening power on global artificial intelligence governance.
The summit, scheduled from February 16 to 20, will bring together policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders at a time when AI cooperation is increasingly entangled with geopolitics.
India's Consul General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, said China's decision reflects improving bilateral engagement, particularly following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in August last year for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin. In a statement shared via WeChat, Mathur described Beijing's participation as an indicator of "growing positive momentum" in India-China relations, suggesting that dialogue on emerging technologies could provide common ground even amid broader strategic differences.
A senior Chinese delegation is expected to attend, led by Chen Jiachange, Vice Minister at China's Ministry of Science and Technology. Other prominent participants include Liu Yuechen, President of the Shanghai AI Research Institute; Xu Yuan, President of the Beijing Institute of Technology; and Xu Jia and Cong Yiwen, Chair and Vice Chair of the Shanghai AI Laboratory. Senior scholars Liu Quan, Shi Chen, and Liang Jiawei from the China Center for Information Industry Development are also slated to join discussions.
According to officials familiar with the preparations, the Chinese side has conveyed full support for India's push to strengthen reformed multilateral frameworks, particularly initiatives aimed at addressing the priorities of the Global South. This alignment is expected to feature prominently in sessions focused on inclusive AI development, capacity building, and equitable access to emerging technologies.
China's confirmation follows an earlier announcement by the United States, which has also committed a high-level delegation to the summit. The US team will be led by the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President, Michael Kratsios. Senior policy advisor Sriram Krishnan will join him for talks centred on global AI cooperation, governance models, and technical standards.
Other members of the US delegation include Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg, Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade William Kimmitt, and Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler, underscoring Washington's interest in shaping international AI norms.
For India, the simultaneous participation of China and the United States underscores the summit's diplomatic weight. New Delhi has framed the AI Impact Summit as a platform to bridge advanced economies and developing nations, balancing innovation with safeguards and promoting responsible AI that serves the public good.
As global competition over AI intensifies, India's ability to convene rival powers at a single table may offer a rare space for dialogue-one where cooperation, standards, and shared challenges take precedence over strategic rivalry.
