Beijing [China], July 19: With the morning sun shining on shrimp ponds in Cambodia's Takeo Province, drones could be seen taking off one after another to begin their daily feeding rounds. Meanwhile, a real-time monitoring system operates around the clock at this spot, transmitting water-quality data to operators to help them make quick, precise adjustments.
These smart technologies were introduced under the China-ASEAN Smart Farm Integrated Development Pilot Program, exemplifying how China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) can make local industries more intelligent and efficient. With the help of such technologies, local shrimp farmers have more than tripled their annual income per hectare.
AI is emerging as a powerful engine of growth amid a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Yet the development gap remains stark. For years, global AI research and development resources have been highly concentrated, leaving many countries in the Global South struggling due to weak infrastructure, high technological barriers and steep costs.
A World Bank report shows that low- and middle-income countries lag far behind high-income economies in both the number of AI systems and available computing capacity. Likewise, a survey by the African Data Centres Association has found that most of the world's data center capacity is concentrated in developed economies, with Africa accounting for less than 1 percent. Without international cooperation, the AI divide may exacerbate the existing North-South gap and further widen global development imbalances.
Against this backdrop, China's AI technologies are well positioned to meet developing countries' urgent need for low-cost, lightweight and highly adaptable solutions. "Through its intelligent transformation, China is exploring a development path that is not limited to the high-cost, high-threshold AI models seen in developed countries," Zheng Changzhong, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, told Xinhua.
Zheng said that such solutions offer valuable options for many developing countries, helping them advance industrialization and digitalization and pursue modernization paths suited to their own conditions.
A case in point is Brazil, where rainforests, savannahs and rugged coastal mountains pose challenges and safety risks for power-grid maintenance. To tackle these difficulties, State Grid Corporation of China has deployed its self-developed Bright Power large model at its Brazilian subsidiary, helping ensure safer and more reliable grid patrols and operations across complex terrain.
In South Africa, meanwhile, the local railway authority has deployed an intelligent rail-monitoring solution developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei. Combining optical technologies with AI-powered machine vision, this system fuses optical and visual data to detect risks and issue alerts, helping reduce safety incidents and improve inspection efficiency.
China's support for open-weight and lower-cost models is important, said Luigi Gambardella, president of the international digital association ChinaEU. "They not only help make AI cheaper, but also enable universities, companies and developers to create local applications and businesses." He added that China's large-scale deployment of AI across manufacturing, robotics, logistics and energy can generate practical experience in improving safety, reliability and productivity.
Industry observers also note that China is expanding cooperation with Global South countries to facilitate the cross-border flow of technologies, solutions and experience, helping them tackle shared challenges such as climate change, public health and food security.
For example, MAZU, an AI-powered integrated meteorological system for early warning developed by the China Meteorological Administration, has been deployed in multiple climate-vulnerable developing countries, including Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mongolia and Djibouti. Currently on display at the ongoing 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, MAZU has helped these countries strengthen early-warning capabilities and reduce the economic and livelihood impacts of extreme weather.
During the 2026 WAIC, China unveiled an action plan to promote global AI cooperation and development, its latest move to strengthen international AI collaboration and bridge the digital divide.
The action plan calls for greater access to high-quality data, more inclusive intelligent computing services, and broader sharing of open-source AI ecosystems. It also seeks to promote deeper AI application across industries, joint cultivation of digital talent, coordinated development of rules and standards, stronger cooperation on AI security and governance, and the development and use of AI for the benefit of humanity.
"China is at the very frontier of the AI revolution," said Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and co-CEO of AI-powered biotech firm Insilico Medicine, while commenting on China's progress in AI at the 2026 WAIC. He noted that China's source models are open and "freely available to anybody on the planet." "Most importantly, China is making AI practically available for many economically valuable applications," he added.
An increasing number of countries across the Global South have expressed willingness to deepen cooperation with China to seize fresh growth opportunities unleashed by the AI boom.
"Cooperation with China is very important because many high-end technologies are developed in China," Assel Zhanassova, deputy head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, told Xinhua.
Source: Qatar Tribune
