The opening ceremony of the Beijing Forum was held on November 7, 2025, in Beijing. Photo: Courtesy of Peking University
At the opening of the Beijing Forum on Friday, a diplomat highlighted that China’s wealth of talent, data and vibrant AI market plays a crucial role in fostering global harmony through innovation in the digital age.
The comment was made by Park Jin, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, at the Beijing Forum in Beijing, themed “Civilizational Coexistence in the Age of Digital Intelligence.” The forum, hosted by Peking University and co-sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, serves as a platform for global dialogue.
Speakers from government, universities and the scientific community highlighted China’s growing role in high-tech collaboration while underscoring the ethical and educational challenges posed by AI’s rapid rise.
In the opening remarks, Park spoke about scientific cooperation between China and South Korea. He noted that through initiatives such as the science and technology joint committee and the technology innovation forum, the two countries have strengthened collaboration in areas like robotics, AI research and climate science. He highlighted that these commitments have already yielded tangible outcomes, including advancements in carbon capture, green hydrogen, polar exploration, and AI-based disaster prediction, with shared data results. Both countries are also working together under the UNESCO AI Ethics Guidelines.
Prior to the recent APEC summit held in Gyeongju, South Korea, the APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting was held in Incheon in August, where a broad consensus was reached. Ministers from the participating economies agreed that artificial intelligence and digital transformation are key drivers of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. They discussed responsible digital innovation and the trustworthy use of AI, he said.
The Beijing Forum kick off in Beijing on November 7, 2025. Photo: Zhang Yiyi/GT
Park stated that this discussion marks a turning point for the Asia-Pacific region, as it shifts the focus from merely announcing technological cooperation to realizing the vision of a responsible technology community. The declaration on AI cooperation provides a new direction for the international order, one that will be based on value-driven collaboration and mutual trust.
Beyond China-South Korea cooperation, academic leaders also underscored the growing depth of China’s collaboration with leading global universities.
University College London (UCL) President Michael Spence told the Global Times on Friday during an interview that China is moving quickly on several high-tech fronts, from humanoid robotics to electric vehicles and deep-tech applications.
China is making “very significant and sophisticated technological advances,” he said, adding that UCL is “very proud of our collaborations with Chinese researchers across a range of fields.” Such partnerships are increasingly helping both sides explore how new technologies can be applied in practice.
He also noted that both governments see value in academic cooperation. The UK is supportive of joint scientific research with China — “our government is encouraging us to cooperate with Chinese researchers,” he said, adding he believes that the Chinese side holds a similar view.
Despite geopolitical uncertainties, Spence said exchanges between scholars, policymakers and industry remain essential. He called forums focused on technology governance particularly meaningful, saying that “any international meeting of people committed to cooperation around the cultural impacts of the new technologies is a good thing.” With technology advancing “so fast” and carrying both “great potential advantages” and “huge dangers,” he hopes this year’s forum will foster substantive discussions as well as informal conversations “in the corridors,” helping build a broader understanding of what effective regulation should look like.
Beyond expanding cooperation with China, participants noted that the accelerating pace of AI development makes questions of ethics, trust and responsible use increasingly urgent.
Michael Levitt, Nobel laureate in Chemistry 2013 and professor of Stanford University, said that AI should be viewed as one of several forms of intelligence shaping the future, alongside biological and cultural intelligence. He noted that generative AI made a major leap once models were trained on massive text corpora, enabling them to predict the next word with surprising accuracy — a capability that underpins translation, transcription and reasoning. He stressed that users must approach AI with curiosity, asking questions “like an 8-year-old” to fully unlock its potential.
He highlighted AI’s rapidly growing utility, saying he relies on multiple large models daily for coding, scientific analyses and interpreting complex documents. Levitt described AI as a powerful tool that can significantly amplify human capability, but cautioned that its output must be approached with scientific scepticism, as true progress depends on testing and verification rather than blind trust.
Tan Eng Chye, president of the National University of Singapore, warned that societies must either master AI or risk being overtaken by it. He said the choices made today will shape not only universities but also future economies and generations, calling for immediate action to prepare for the AI era.
Tan outlined three priorities for universities: providing strong leadership by making AI a strategic focus and improving governance; investing in people so that faculty, staff and students can confidently and creatively use AI; and embedding ethics and fairness to ensure AI serves humanity through transparent, privacy-protecting and inclusive practices.
Cheng Lesong, Boya Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Peking University, said the “age of intelligence” is reshaping daily life and even the structure of civilization, yet most people still feel like outsiders to the technologies transforming their world. He noted that fascination and fear now coexist, as algorithms and data bring unprecedented efficiency while deepening information asymmetry, leaving many without the knowledge or voice needed to participate in governance and ethical debates.
He called for defending human dignity amid rapid change — resisting becoming “playthings of algorithms,” cultivating critical reflection and real-world connection, and setting clear ethical boundaries so technology remains people-centred. Cheng urged pluralistic, cross-civilizational cooperation to build shared norms for responsible AI, stressing that coexistence, rather than not zero-sum rivalry, should guide how humanity and its own technologies evolve together.
As the wave of digital intelligence continues to reshape the course of human civilization, speakers emphasized the need for mutual learning and shared wisdom to overcome barriers and navigate rising uncertainties. Bringing together more than 400 guests and scholars from 36 countries and regions, this year’s Beijing Forum reflects a growing global effort to seek new pathways for cooperation, technology governance and civilizational exchange in the age of digital intelligence.
The Beijing Forum prides itself on being international, academic and impactful. It has been held annually since 2004. To date, more than 7,000 dignitaries and scholars from around the world have convened in Beijing for the forum, demonstrating its importance and significance, according to its official website.
