The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has entered into a transformative new phase, shifting from physical connectivity to digital connectivity by the dawn of Artificial Intelligence.
In successfully reimagining the ancient Silk Road, the journey from camel caravans to AI data houses has become a powerful new engine of the BRI. It is increasingly clear that the future of the BRI’s development, diversity, expansion and practical utility will be judged by its embrace of AI, creating a multitude of mutually beneficial propositions for member countries across the globe.
A comparative analysis of global AI strategies illuminates this shift. The United States’ AI Action Plan (AAIAP, 2025) prioritizes innovation primacy and semiconductor dominance, thereby reinforcing a model of economic and technological protectionism that effectively excludes other nations. Similarly, the EU’s AI Continent Action Plan (EU AICAP, 2025) envisions a sovereign, values-based ecosystem centered on data accessibility; however, pursuits of decoupling and delinking notions are badly damaging its AI domain.
In contrast, China’s approach privileges scale, integration and socio-economic utility, a commendable strategy that consolidates both soft and technological connectivity among BRI member countries. In this context, AI governance under the BRI framework is poised to create a better future for humanity across the participating nations.
Leveraging AI deployment within the BRI demonstrably reinforces economic empowerment and social development. While the BRI first mastered physical connectivity, this new approach uses infrastructural integration to popularize application-ready AI achievements, consolidate technological capacity and directly address the digital divide.
This opens a new window of opportunity for all member countries to steer their economies, communities and enterprises onto the path of rapid socio-economic prosperity, qualitative industrialization, green transformation, hybrid agriculture and advances in science, space and robotics. Through AI, the BRI is becoming a new powerhouse of mass digitalization, quantum technologies and, above all, modernization.
Crucially, AI’s strategic priority within this framework is usability and accessibility, making it especially attractive to Global South nations seeking rapid digital modernization. An interoperable AI built on compatibility, adaptation and seamless interconnectivity is instrumental in achieving the desired goals of modernization, digitalization and qualitative industrialization among BRI countries.
As the global AI landscape evolves at breakneck speed amid intense geopolitical races, China is emerging as a key driver of inclusive and affordable digital cooperation. Under the BRI, it is forging a new model of complementary and mutually beneficial collaboration that directly links technological strengths with real-world development needs, fostering robust socio-economic progress, stability and sustainability.
According to Chinese customs data, the country’s exports of industrial robots surged 48.7 percent year-on-year in 2025, making China a net exporter for the first time. But a defining transformation occurred that same year, as China moved decisively from hardware exports to delivering full-stack, AI-powered services and bespoke solutions worldwide. Chinese cloud and AI enterprises accelerated their global expansion, with overseas computing infrastructure and international business surging.
Major cloud providers have achieved high triple-digit growth in overseas AI-related revenue for consecutive quarters, expanding rapidly in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. By the first quarter of 2026, numerous Chinese AI enterprises had established a commercial presence in more than 170 countries and regions, providing affordable computing services, intelligent applications and industry solutions to global users.
The tangible benefits are already materializing across BRI markets. According to the China State Railway Group, cost-efficient AI has delivered significant economic gains and markedly improved operational efficiency. At key China-Europe freight train hubs like Xi’an International Port Station and Manzhouli Port, AI-powered intelligent scheduling, automated container handling and cross-border digital clearance systems have cut transit times by more than 30 percent.
On Silk Road e-commerce platforms, AI tools have helped small and medium-sized enterprises in ASEAN, Central Asia and the Middle East increase sales by 30 to 80 percent, significantly improving profitability, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Beyond these immediate economic gains, China’s AI partnerships are helping BRI countries build long-term technological capacity and independent digital industries. Chinese AI solutions can sharply reduce large model training costs for developing nations, enabling them to bypass massive upfront infrastructure investment and catch up rapidly in the digital era.
The commitment to open international cooperation is exemplified by developments like DeepSeek. At the third BRI Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023, China introduced the Global AI Governance Initiative, stressing that all countries, regardless of size, strength or social system, should have equal rights to develop and use AI and calling for tailored cooperation to bridge the AI divide. Building on this, China proposed a new AI+ International Cooperation Initiative at a high-level UN General Assembly side event, advocating for the deep integration of AI into the economic and social development of all nations.
This cooperation has long been underway through the Digital Silk Road initiative, which since 2015 has laid the groundwork for AI development by assisting partner countries in building digital infrastructure. China’s three major telecommunications operators have jointly established dozens of submarine cables, over 100 cross-border terrestrial cable systems and a web of international network nodes spanning the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa. In Indonesia, a Fiber-to-the-Home project by China’s Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Company has been deployed in 25 cities and in June 2025, the first phase of a data center project in Johor, Malaysia, built with Chinese participation, was successfully completed.
The world now faces a choice between two AI futures: one defined by exclusivity and zero-sum competition and another promoting openness and collaboration. China and its BRI partner countries have already made their choice, championing open collaboration over closed competition. This win-win model for global digital governance is affordable, adaptable and inclusive. By enabling developing nations to fully share in the dividends of AI progress, China also gains vital overseas market feedback that drives continuous technological iteration and industrial innovation.
In summary, China and its BRI partners are uniquely positioned to build an open, inclusive and equitable global digital ecosystem, advance the integrated development of the global digital economy and promote shared prosperity for all in the digital age. It is a promising omen that China has become a true champion of AI and AI Plus, actively reducing the digital divide and promoting inclusive development, modernization, digitalization and quantum technologies for all member countries of the BRI. The future of the initiative is directly and positively correlated with better AI governance and thus, a better future for humanity.
