The upcoming World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), one of the world’s most influential AI events, will reach a record scale this year in its exhibition area, and is expected to attract over 1,100 companies, display more than 3,000 exhibits, and feature more than 300 global product debuts, according to a news briefing. The Conference will take place in Shanghai from July 17 to 20.
Shanghai has successfully hosted the conference for eight consecutive years, with the event becoming an important platform for showcasing cutting-edge AI technologies from China and around the world, while also deepening international cooperation, Chen Jie, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, said. “For the first time since its inception, the conference’s exhibition scale exceeds 100,000 square meters. The intelligent computing and embodied AI segments will each bring together more than 200 companies. Leading companies, major state-owned enterprises and top multinational companies will join their ecosystem partners to showcase the latest AI-enabled applications across industries,” said Chen. He added that such an expansion in the scale and capacity of the conference is based on the city’s thriving AI industry.
Shanghai’s 394 AI enterprises above the designated size (with revenues of more than CNY20 million) saw their combined industry scale exceed CNY637 billion in 2025, up 39.5% year-on-year, emerging as a new driver of the city’s economic growth, according to Chen. Shanghai has built a complete ecosystem for AI development, integrating innovation, application, cooperation, ecological coordination and security governance, he added. “The value of China’s core AI industry is estimated to have surpassed CNY1.2 trillion in scale by the end of 2025. At the same time, rapid advances in large models, AI agents and AI chips are expected to drive annual humanoid robot production above 100,000 units this year,” said Gan Xiaobin, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). According to Gan, the constantly deepening integration of AI and manufacturing is enabling Chinese industrial enterprises above the designated size to raise their adoption rate of AI to more than 30%. Wang Ruomeng, an official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that the Chinese AI industry is estimated to grow at a rate of more than 30% this year, and the integration of AI into various sectors has become a driving force for the nation’s economy. “Since the guideline on AI integration development was issued by the State Council last August, the NDRC has worked together with relevant parties to promote AI to empower various industries and benefit Chinese people in their daily life,” said Wang.
Sun Xiaobo, an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the theme of this year’s conference, “AI Partnership for a Brighter Future”, has two key messages. “The word partnership shows that AI is empowering all kinds of industries and families, becoming an important assistant in our work and daily lives. In the meantime, global AI governance requires countries to work together to build global partnerships in AI and jointly promote the beneficial and inclusive development of artificial intelligence,” said Sun, as reported by the China Daily.
