Global AI Governance Initiative (2023) + Action Plan (Jul 2025)
Issuer: PRC foreign policy: MFA / WAIC
Date: 18 OCT 2023
Status: IN FORCE in China, as of 29 JUL 2026
13-point roadmap; proposed Global AI Cooperation Organization, potential Shanghai HQ.
China's foreign-policy platform on AI rules. The 2023 Initiative (announced by Xi Jinping at the Belt & Road Forum, 18 Oct 2023): people-centered AI, respect for national sovereignty, opposition to 'technological monopolies', UN-centered global institutions. The 13-point Action Plan (Premier Li Qiang at WAIC Shanghai, 26 Jul 2025) proposed a Global AI Cooperation Organization, potentially headquartered in Shanghai, days after the US AI Action Plan: an explicit counter-offer on global AI rules.
What it actually requires (4 provisions)
- 2023 Initiative: sovereignty-first, UN-centered global AI governance
- Jul 2025 Action Plan: 13-point roadmap implementing the Initiative
- Proposed Global AI Cooperation Organization, potential Shanghai HQ
- Center for Global AI Innovative Governance + International Open Source AI Cooperation Initiative
How its status moved
- INITIATIVE18 Oct 2023, Belt & Road Forum
- ACTION PLAN26 Jul 2025, WAIC Shanghai
- CURRENTActive foreign-policy platform
Sources (1)
GAGI: Global AI Governance Initiative + Action Plan
13-point roadmap (Jul 2025) implementing the 2023 Initiative; proposed Global AI Cooperation Organization, potential Shanghai HQ.
The rest of the China stack
12 more instruments in this jurisdiction, each with its own status, provisions and sources.
- Algorithm Recommendation ProvisionsIN FORCEFirst binding algorithm rules; opt-out of feeds; anti-cocoon; created the CAC filing registry.
- Deep Synthesis ProvisionsIN FORCEReal-name, consent of impersonated persons, prominent labeling, algorithm filing.
- GenAI Interim Measures (CAC Order No. 15)IN FORCEPublic GenAI needs security assessment + filing before launch (Art. 17); socialist-core-values content duties.
- CAC filing registriesIN FORCE868 GenAI services + 530 apps (Apr 2026); ~5,672 deep-synthesis algorithms in 14 batches; >5,000 recommendation algorithms; public lists.
- AI Content Labeling Measures + GB 45438-2025IN FORCEDual explicit + implicit labels; platform verification; tampering prohibited.
- Facial Recognition Security MeasuresIN FORCECommercial FR: consent, DPIA, local storage, mandatory-scan bans, 100k-faces filing; state use via PIPL Art. 26 carve-out.
- Anthropomorphic AI Interaction Measures (Decree No. 21)IN FORCEWorld-first companion rulebook: disclosure each session, 2-hr break prompts, minor companion ban, ≤RMB 200k fines; Doubao/Qwen features shut at deadline.
- AI Safety Governance Framework v1.0/v2.0VOLUNTARY / SOFT LAWFirst cross-scenario risk classification; lifecycle duties; agents & embodied AI in v2.0.
- TC260 mandatory/voluntary standardsIN FORCEGB/T 45654-2025, GB/T 45652-2025 (eff. Nov 2025), GB/T 42888-2023; WG9 AI Security Working Group (2026); 400+ standards.
- Comprehensive national AI lawNOT ENACTED2025 legislative plans softened commitment; official draft reported Dec 2025 ⚠; AI provisions instead folded into amended Cybersecurity Law (eff. 1 Jan 2026).
- PBOC Credit Reporting MeasuresIN FORCECredit scoring = licensed business; explainable, traceable, filed models; mainland data storage.
- Shanghai AI Industry RegulationIN FORCEFirst provincial AI law; sandbox, graded management, ethics council; Art. 69 recruitment non-discrimination.
Where this sits in the wider picture
- The China regime dossier gives the doctrine this instrument belongs to, next to the other two jurisdictions.
- The Framework Explorer, filtered to CN lists every instrument in this jurisdiction in one filterable index.
- The governance simulator shows what these rules do to a real AI system, next to what the other two jurisdictions do to the same one.
- The timeline places this date beside what the other capitals were doing that month.
Knowing the instrument is step one. Complying with it is the job.
The programs teach the work that follows a rule like this one: classification calls, conformity assessment, filings, documentation, and the judgment to defend every decision.
VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026. Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources listed above and dated to the day it was checked. Study aid, not legal advice: the official texts are always authoritative.