China has rejected suggestions that artificial intelligence development is evolving into a technology bloc confrontation between Beijing and Washington, arguing that the rapidly advancing sector should remain open, inclusive, and globally accessible.
Responding to a question about growing perceptions of an AI race between China and the United States, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said AI should be viewed as a shared opportunity rather than a battleground for major powers, according to a transcript released by her ministry following the press briefing in Beijing.
“AI is profoundly changing the way people work and live. It is a new frontier for all humanity,” Mao said. “AI should not be owned by major countries, still less dominated by contest and rivalry.”
Her comments come as Chinese and US technology firms increasingly compete in large language models, robotics, and AI infrastructure. Yet market trends also suggest that commercial adoption is crossing geopolitical boundaries.
Recent data published by economist Byrne Hobart in his EconLab newsletter, based on spending patterns tracked by corporate procurement platform Ramp, showed China’s DeepSeek emerging as the top “trending” software vendor among business customers in June.
DeepSeek topped a breakout-growth ranking that included AI and software companies such as Fireworks AI, fal AI, DeepInfra, and Vast.ai.
The findings indicate that US businesses are increasingly experimenting with Chinese-developed AI models alongside offerings from American rivals.
Meanwhile, Anthropic led Ramp’s ranking of the fastest-growing software vendors, followed by AI notetaker Granola, web-development platforms Vercel and Netlify, and design software providers Canva and Figma.
Mao said China advocates a people-centered approach to AI development and has promoted international cooperation through initiatives, including the Global AI Governance Initiative and the proposed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.
“The core aim of those efforts is to build consensus through dialogue, deepen cooperation, and build an open, equal-footed, just, and non-discriminatory environment for AI development,” she said.
China will host the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai next month.