Comment by State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China

The rapid development and widespread application of AI technology has profoundly altered the way people work and live, brought new geopolitical uncertainties, and catalyzed a new wave of military transformation. Recent regional conflicts have demonstrated significant changes in warfare formats and approaches with the emergence of UAV swarms, intelligent weapon platforms, and AI-assisted systems, raising concerns in the international community. China champions the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity in AI development and places equal emphasis on development and security to ensure safe, reliable and controllable military applications of AI. Upholding a people-centered approach and the principle of AI for good. China believes that military applications of AI should never undermine humanity’s wellbeing; instead, they should facilitate trust among countries, help maintain global strategic stability, and prevent arms races. Human primacy must be upheld and human beings rather than weapons should be the decisive element for the outcome of a war. It is essential to ensure that human beings take the ultimate responsibility and that all relevant weapons systems are under human control to prevent unauthorized actions. The application of AI in the military domain must be conducted in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and other applicable international laws. Calling for an international governance framework for the military applications of AI. China has launched the Global AI Governance Initiative and released the Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China on Regulating Military Applications of AI, proposing that all countries, especially major countries, should take a prudent and responsible approach to developing and using AI technology in the military domain. China plays a constructive role in relevant discussions under the UN framework and advocates multilateralism, openness and inclusiveness. It supports the establishment of a universally inclusive international mechanism and a governance framework based on broad consensus.