China’s Xi urges AI cooperation, rejects ‘Cold War mentality’ at SCO summit

China’s President Xi Jinping used the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin to press for tighter regional collaboration in technology—especially artificial intelligence—while warning leaders to “oppose the Cold War mentality” and bloc confrontation. The message: deepen practical cooperation and modernise together, rather than splinter into rival camps. CNAAl Jazeera

In a keynote address to more than 20 attending leaders, Xi outlined a vision of “equal and orderly multipolarity” and “inclusive economic globalisation,” positioning the SCO as a platform for countries seeking alternatives to a US-centric order. He urged members to expand cooperation in energy, green industries, the digital economy and AI, and to make trade and investment easier across the bloc’s massive combined market. Reuters

To give the agenda teeth, Beijing paired rhetoric with money. China announced 2 billion yuan (about $280 million) in aid this year and an additional 10 billion yuan in loans aimed at strengthening economic ties among SCO members. Xi also pushed to accelerate work on a dedicated SCO development bank—an institution that would shift the group’s centre of gravity further toward economic development, not just security coordination. Al JazeeraReutersABC News

The summit showcased geopolitical theatre alongside policy. Russia’s Vladimir Putin echoed Beijing’s critique of Western “bloc politics,” while India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Xi on the sidelines as both sides signalled a desire to stabilise ties after years of tension. The optics underscored how the SCO is increasingly a stage for Global South diplomacy and for China’s effort to recast global governance rules. The GuardianReuters

Why the focus on AI? For Beijing, AI sits at the intersection of growth, security and standards-setting. Xi’s call for AI cooperation within the SCO hints at interest in shared rules for data flows, talent training and industrial deployment—areas where common frameworks could help the bloc leapfrog bottlenecks caused by sanctions, export controls and fragmented markets. If members align on testing, safety and cross-border data requirements, they could scale AI across logistics, energy grids, agriculture and public services faster than going it alone. CNA

Sceptics will ask whether lofty goals will translate into projects. Here, the prospective SCO development bank is pivotal. If funded and structured well, it could underwrite digital infrastructure, cross-border data centres, and AI pilot programmes—knitting together markets from Central to South Asia. But success depends on governance, transparency and the ability to manage competing interests among heavyweight members. ABC News

Bottom line: the Tianjin summit marked a clear push by China to move the SCO further into the economic and technological realm. By coupling anti–Cold War rhetoric with concrete offers of financing and a call to collaborate on AI, Beijing is betting that shared development—and shared standards—can be the glue that holds this diverse grouping together. Whether that bet pays off will hinge on how quickly talk becomes funded, buildable projects.