On May 5, 2026, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng gave an exclusive interview to Senior Foreign Policy Writer Tom O’Connor from Newsweek on U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China and China-U.S. relations.

Tom O’Connor asked: With the explosive growth in AI technology, many in the international community are expecting China and the US, two leaders in the sector, to strengthen cooperation. What scenarios do you foresee for China-US AI interactions: cooperation, competition, or confrontation?

Ambassador Xie said that artificial intelligence (AI) is leading the new wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. While profoundly reshaping the ways humans work and live, it has also brought unprecedented risks and challenges. After my arrival in the U.S. in 2023, I had seven in-depth discussions with Dr. Henry Kissinger. The AI issue was one of the topics every time. With the strong support of our heads of state, Dr. Kissinger initiated China-U.S. Track II dialogue on AI together with experts from both countries, and two rounds of intergovernmental dialogue on AI have also been held.

Ambassador Xie emphasized that China’s competitiveness in AI does not come out of nowhere; it is grounded in China’s strengths in system, market, industry, and talent pool, and rooted in the wisdom and hard work of the Chinese people. Today, China has become the world’s largest holder of AI patents and an important engine driving the global intelligent transformation. Following Seedance 2.0’s global viral success in video generation and MiniMax’s Full-Stack Model Matrix, DeepSeek-V4 has arrived with a comprehensive upgrade. During China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period, AI will empower industries across the board and benefit households nationwide.

Ambassador Xie pointed out that China advocates AI for good and for all, and opposes turning AI into a game of only a few countries and the wealthy. In 2023, President Xi Jinping put forth the Global AI Governance Initiative. China has also proposed establishing a world AI cooperation organization, launched the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative, and held the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai for eight years in a row, the latest edition of which will be held in July. It is only natural that China and the U.S., as leading countries in AI, should compete in the sector. But the two sides should engage in a race to the top, put equal emphasis on development and security, check brakes before setting off, and live up to our responsibilities as major countries through cooperation. The world does not want to see an “iron curtain” in AI, nor attempts at technological enclosure, let alone a Star Wars-style rivalry in AI. China-U.S. coordination on AI bears on the future of both our countries and the entire humanity. We hope the U.S. side will work with us in the same direction, to enhance dialogue, manage competition, and conduct cooperation, so that AI will become a new frontier for China-U.S. cooperation and a new ladder for human progress.