Recently, Sam Daws, Senior Advisor of the Oxford Martin Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative and Director of Multilateral Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford, was invited to participate in the "Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2025)" and had in-depth exchanges with Wang Wen, Dean of the Chongyang Institute of Finance and Global Leadership at Renmin University of China. Dawes and Wang Wen jointly visited Shanghai, Wenzhou, and Beijing, visited several high-quality Chinese enterprises, and exchanged and communicated with thousands of young Chinese scholars. He said that this trip was an extraordinary experience that allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and thought, feel the determination and enthusiasm of the younger generation, and also see China's development in industrial innovation and artificial intelligence governance, bringing new inspiration to his research. On December 28th, in Nanchang, Jiangxi, the AI robot "Zhiyin" appeared with a baton. That evening, the "Chao Yong Gan Po Music Dynamic New Year" 2026 Jiangxi New Year Concert was held at the Jiangxi Art Center Grand Theater. At the beginning of the concert, the AI robot "Zhiyin" appeared as a "music conductor", performing two "AI original" works created by the artificial intelligence composition system of the Central Conservatory of Music, presenting a futuristic audio-visual feast for the audience. Liu Zhankun, a reporter from China News Service, took the following excerpt from the dialogue: "The the Belt and Road" and "China AI". Wang Wen: Now China also hopes to participate more in global governance. In the past decade, China has continuously participated in and gradually led global governance. In 2008, China participated in the G20 Summit for the first time. In 2016, China hosted the G20 Summit for the first time. In 2013, China put forward the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road". In September 2025, China put forward the global governance initiative. Previously, China also put forward the global development initiative, the global security initiative and the global civilization initiative. How do you view China's participation in global governance? How to interpret global governance initiatives? Sam Dawes: I believe that China has made very positive contributions to global governance. As you said, China has made at least three contributions. China participates in cooperation under the United Nations mechanism on three levels. China has dispatched more peacekeeping personnel than the other four permanent members of the Security Council combined. In three years, it will also catch up with the United States and become one of the largest contributors to the United Nations budget. In fact, due to the reduced participation of the United States in the United Nations, China will surpass the United States in peacekeeping contributions and be on par with the United States in supporting the UN's regular budget. Secondly, China genuinely supports the development of regional organizations. For example, partnerships with African countries to assist the African Union in building a new headquarters in Addis Ababa. I believe that these regional organizations have made positive contributions to innovation and growth in the multilateral system. These treaty based regional organizations play a positive role in multilateral mediation, trade, and building trust through reaching common agreements. Thirdly, the 'China Initiative' embodies a multi-level inheritance and development. The Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and now the Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative are not meant to replace the United Nations agenda, but rather serve as important supplements to it. Therefore, I think the most successful part of China's joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative and other initiatives is that these initiatives can be well integrated into existing international paths, such as the sustainable development goals, the climate change goals in the Paris Agreement, etc. In addition, for developing countries, China's greatest contribution lies in the way it helps these countries develop - rarely providing direct aid, but increasing investment in these countries, especially in sustainable areas and talent development. Furthermore, in the field of global governance, China's new artificial intelligence action plan is very exciting. China has made special contributions to the dissemination and use of AI in developing countries. This is an open-source approach that allows countries to modify models to adapt to local cultures, environments, and languages. The Chinese model provides a "full stack" model that developing countries can afford, offering integrated computing products consisting of algorithm products and data products. In contrast, Western AI products are very modular, and developing countries must purchase each module separately and put in more effort and cost in system integration. Therefore, China has made great contributions to helping developing countries bridge the digital divide by enabling them to make good use of AI. AI governance must be people-oriented. Wang Wen: Another focus is on AI. Nowadays, the development of AI has made people feel that the future has come. Looking back, AI not only brings opportunities, but also many challenges. Musk said that if AI continues to develop in this way, it may replace humans. How do you view the challenges that AI currently poses to humans? Sam Dawes: This is a very good question. Artificial intelligence has both the potential to change humanity and the challenges and risks it brings. In terms of benefits, it can make almost every industry operate more efficiently, but the challenge that comes with it is that when people are replaced by automation, we need to ensure that they have jobs and benefits in other fields. The second benefit brought by artificial intelligence is that it has brought significant breakthroughs to technological innovation, and there have been many applications in the past two years. For example, in the field of materials science, it can completely change the way energy is produced and stored; In the field of medicine, we can provide personalized free drugs for the world's impoverished population in the future; In the field of education, people at all stages of development have the opportunity to receive education; In environmental research, we have models that support addressing climate change and maintaining biodiversity. But there are also many challenges, and we are facing the challenge of artificial intelligence security. Algorithms may have biases and may no longer align with human values in the future; Terrorists are using artificial intelligence to develop biological or chemical weapons. These are all problems that we humans need to work together to solve. The potential risks of artificial intelligence are greater, as it may lose control and eliminate humans. I believe this is possible, and we cannot be dominated by AI. There are too many things we need to do, both focusing on achieving benefits and engaging in pragmatic cooperation to address related risks. Wang Wen: Therefore, China has both an open attitude and cautious actions in the process of AI development. So, in the process of global governance of artificial intelligence, what roles do you think China, the United States, and Europe can play? Sam Dawes: Indeed, we can see that different methods may have some differences, but these methods can complement each other. The UK is at the forefront of artificial intelligence security, having hosted the Blackley Summit two years ago where a scientific report on AI security was presented. Now, countries such as China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, and Kenya have established artificial intelligence security agencies. This requires both leadership and more collaboration. For example, Europe attaches great importance to AI regulation, such as the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act, but the EU is aware that there may be over regulation in certain areas, and we can also learn from it. On September 13th, at a robot retail store in the Summer Palace in Beijing, robots delivered goods to tourists. It is understood that the retail store is independently provided by robots with full process services including reception, ordering, payment, pickup, and delivery, mainly selling beverages and park cultural and creative products. Artificial intelligence+is no longer just a distant cutting-edge technology, robots are silently integrating into people's daily lives. Photo by Zhang Xiangyi, a reporter from China News Service. China also has its own relevant laws. Moreover, not only in the field of artificial intelligence software, China has also made significant contributions to the transition towards "embodied intelligence" - especially in factories, robots, automation, and perhaps even higher-level biological intelligence in the future. For example, brain computer interface is actually the application of a specially designed artificial intelligence chip. It does not come from silicon semiconductors, but from organisms themselves. That could be 15 or 20 years from now. Every region in the world has made different contributions in the field of artificial intelligence. The United States is currently adopting a highly sovereign, commercialized, and competitive approach in the field of AI. But what gives me some peace of mind is that Americans still care about the safety of artificial intelligence development. Another common issue is that we all need to consume a lot of water and electricity to run AI and train them to reason. Therefore, I believe that there is a common interest in more energy-efficient AI software and hardware design and data applications. Therefore, I believe we can find areas for cooperation. Who will have the final laugh in the artificial intelligence 'competition'? Wang Wen: We have more discussions about the competition between China and the United States in the AI field. How do you view the final outcome of the competition between China and the United States in the AI field? Sam Dawes: I wouldn't describe it as' who will win ', I think this question must be considered within a certain framework. I believe that under the new AI Action Plan, the United States is focused on achieving dominance in the field of artificial intelligence, but this competition only applies to a small part of AI, namely the competition for advanced AI models such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and so on. In this regard, China's catching up speed is fast, but I believe that the American model is still advanced. But China has already taken the lead in the specific application of artificial intelligence technology and the dissemination of technology to developing countries. This is because of factors I previously discussed, such as cost, full stack applications, cultural matching, and so on. On these levels, China is leading. In many practical applications of artificial intelligence, China has realized that what we need is not the latest chips or models. We need to consider how to apply artificial intelligence to real life, creating benefits and addressing challenges - whether in industrial production, education systems, or healthcare systems. So, although there are many discussions about who will win in the competition between China and the United States, if both countries focus on doing their own things well, it will have a huge and positive impact on the world. What we need to avoid is the fragmentation and divergence between the artificial intelligence ecosystems of China and the West. On May 8th, the traditional Chinese medicine four diagnostic AI robot made its debut at the Beijing Science and Technology Expo. Photo by Wang Ziru, a reporter from China News Service. Wang Wen: Finally, let's imagine what AI technology will be like in 2050 and what the world will be like? Will AI dominate humanity? What will the world pattern look like in 2050? What should the future international economic and technological structure be like? Sam Dawes: I hope humanity will become wiser and more moral. We still face many challenges, whether it is managing artificial intelligence, climate, biodiversity, public health, or more challenging issues such as trust and international security. They are not technical issues, but moral and ethical issues. When I was in China, I learned that Confucius had a saying: "The wise enjoy water, and the benevolent enjoy mountains. I really like this sentence, so I've been thinking, what kind of transformation do we humans need to make ourselves by 2050? We need curiosity to drive us forward like water, but we also need stability in ethical frameworks like mountains. I think this is the real challenge. However, I am optimistic that we will learn to utilize various new technologies to make humanity a better place. We can find more respect for each other's language through artificial intelligence