The 2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Digital and Artificial Intelligence, held on July 23 in Chengdu, Sichuan, has concluded with the adoption of the 2026 APEC Ministerial Statement on Digital and AI (Chengdu Declaration). Participating economies have unanimously agreed to jointly leverage digital and AI technologies to empower the Asia-Pacific community.
Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Lecheng outlined that the meeting achieved five key points: building consensus on innovation driven by digital intelligence; deepening the understanding of managing risks to ensure safety and control; emphasizing cooperation for shared prosperity; setting a goal of inclusive, shared benefits; and adhering to a principle of building an open innovation ecosystem. "The Chengdu Declaration creates an action framework for APEC to deepen digital and AI cooperation and empower regional innovation in the period ahead," Li stated.
"This ministerial statement represents a significant regional consensus on digital affairs, reached against the backdrop of rapid technological development and widespread application of digital and AI globally," said Jiang Mingtao, Director of the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center. He noted that the declaration sends a powerful signal that regional cooperation is transitioning from "basic connectivity" to "digital intelligence empowerment."
This marks the first time in 24 years that China has hosted the APEC Telecommunications Ministerial Meeting, which has been renamed from "Telecommunications" to "Digital and Artificial Intelligence." Jiang explained, "Twenty-four years ago, the focus was on laying fiber optic cables and building networks to solve basic digital connectivity. Today, while continuing to promote universal and meaningful digital access, the emphasis has shifted to digital intelligence empowerment—how to genuinely empower all industries and improve people's livelihoods."
The Chengdu Declaration also signals that technological dividends must benefit all economies and people across the Asia-Pacific region, and that security is the fundamental foundation for development. Regarding safe development, Jiang emphasized that security is a basic guarantee for the innovation, development, and inclusive sharing of digital and AI technologies, and a crucial prerequisite for deepening regional cooperation. "Facing multiple security challenges in cybersecurity, digital security, and AI security, the declaration underscores the willingness of APEC parties to foster a secure, reliable, trustworthy, and resilient digital environment through policy dialogue, experience exchange, and sharing best practices," he added.
Recently, Goldman Sachs released a report predicting that global AI capital expenditure on computing, data centers, and electricity would reach approximately $7.6 trillion between 2026 and 2031. The report suggests that future competition in AI will hinge not just on models or chips, but on capital structure, energy supply, industrial data, engineering capabilities, and deployment abilities, as AI enters real-world sectors like manufacturing, energy, and logistics.
Regarding implementation of the Chengdu Declaration, Janet de Silva, Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Digital and Innovation Working Group, proposed four action recommendations: promoting AI普及 (universal AI adoption), strengthening digital infrastructure, preparing for the quantum era, and advancing regulatory modernization. She views these four actions as complementary: AI普及 relies on infrastructure, infrastructure depends on investment certainty, and digital trade grows through innovation and trust.
"In the digital age, the first task was connectivity; now, with the AI era upon us, we must improve how people live," de Silva said. She emphasized that promoting AI普及 means not only deploying AI but also ensuring data trustworthiness, regulatory compliance, affordable access, and helping users acquire AI and digital skills. "For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the key is using AI to augment human capabilities." She noted that successful cases show AI can assist judgment, unleash productivity, improve customer relations, and drive innovation, while workers need to prepare for upskilling and adaptation to change.
China places high importance on digital and AI development. The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposes activating the potential of data elements, accelerating digital intelligence technology innovation, and deepening the "AI+" initiative. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that as of 2025, China has over 6,200 AI enterprises with a core industry scale exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan. By the end of June this year, China's intelligent computing power reached 2,185 EFLOPS (FP16), a 177% year-on-year increase.
Discussing China's role in APEC cooperation on digital and AI technology, Jiang Mingtao identified four positions: a "promoter" of deepening digital connectivity, a "practitioner" of digital intelligence technology empowerment, a "co-builder" of open-source innovation ecosystems, and a "connector" for deepening mutual recognition of technical standards. "Digital infrastructure is the 'hard support' for Asia-Pacific collaborative development, open source is an important paradigm for technological innovation in the digital age, and without interoperable standards, connectivity cannot be smooth," he stressed.
Wei Wei, Director of the Ministry's Department of Science and Technology, said China will work with other APEC economies to promote AI industrial development and comprehensive empowerment in three areas: strengthening open-source innovation cooperation, expanding scenario-based application empowerment, and enhancing security governance coordination. In recent years, China has continuously promoted AI empowerment across industries, particularly through the "AI + Manufacturing" special action, which systematically identifies and opens high-value application scenarios.
Chengdu, the host city for the APEC meeting, is already building benchmark scenarios in manufacturing, cultural creativity, and healthcare to drive the development of digital industries, including AI. Zhao Cungang, Party Secretary and Director of the Chengdu Municipal Economic and Information Technology Bureau, noted that the high-quality development of this mega-city—with a population of 21 million, smart governance of its park city, and transformation of 37 industrial categories—is itself a vast treasure trove of scenarios. "We will proactively open up over 1,000 scenario demands, focusing on five areas including embodied intelligence and brain-computer interfaces, guiding enterprises to jointly 'take the lead in tackling challenges.' We will define technology by scenarios, moving from passive to active," Zhao said.
"Scenario-driven, application-led development is a key method and experience for China's AI advancement," Wei Wei stated. China will work with APEC economies to jointly create high-value scenarios and typical applications and is willing to provide affordable, high-performance intelligent terminal equipment and solutions to support the intelligent transformation and upgrading of all economies' economies and societies.
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