Xi Promotes AI Collaboration at SCO Summit, Pledges $280M in Grants

Chinese President Xi Jinping championed artificial intelligence cooperation while denouncing Cold War mentalities at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's largest-ever summit in Tianjin. The gathering united over 20 world leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and India's Narendra Modi, signaling growing geopolitical realignments.

Beijing positioned itself as an economic stabilizer, committing 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in immediate grants to SCO members. A further 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in development loans was announced through regional financial channels, with Xi urging accelerated establishment of the long-planned SCO Development Bank.

The Luban vocational education program will expand to benefit 10,000 additional students across member states. Xi framed the initiatives as building blocks for "high-quality cooperation" within the bloc's "mega-sized markets," emphasizing trade facilitation and economic complementarity.