On April 24th, 2026, the Shanghai Forum 2026 officially commenced. This three-day forum has brought together nearly 400 representatives from think tanks, universities, government bodies, enterprises, and media institutions from more than 50 countries and regions worldwide. Participants are engaged in in-depth discussions on critical issues such as artificial intelligence governance, the green transition, and the continued development of the Global South, contributing a wide variety of ideas and solutions for inclusive and sustainable global development.

Building a Comprehensive System for Collaborative Governance

This year's forum is structured around three main pillars: Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance, Major Power Relations and Regional Governance, and Sustainable Development and a Shared Future. 

It features a total of 16 sub-forums covering a range of cutting-edge topics, including bridging the digital-intelligence divide and fostering a new order of collaborative governance, the connectivity of the Global South and the reshaping of regional dynamics, and digital-intelligent health.

Spotlight on Global South Development: Building Bridges

This year, the Global South development forum featured five dedicated sub-forums. There were co-chaired sub-forums by scholars from both the Global North and South, dual-perspective keynote addresses, and cross-regional roundtable discussions. These sessions were focused on exploring possibilities in governance coordination, development pathways, digital empowerment, regional transformation, and youth development within the Global South. These efforts not only established a platform for experience sharing among Global South countries but also provide intellectual support for fostering an equitable and inclusive North-South dialogue and building a more just global governance system.

Fostering Cross-Sector Synergies While Cultivating Groundbreaking Ideas

With “innovation” as a central driving force, this year’s event placed a strategic focus on cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and digital-intelligent technologies. A series of sessions were organized to transcend disciplinary, sectoral, and geographical boundaries, thereby promoting interdisciplinary integration and multi-stakeholder synergy.

In the realm of academic cross-boundary exploration, Fudan University, in partnership with institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, has launched the “AISUS+ International Cooperation Initiative,” seeking to forge new pathways for leveraging AI to enhance urban climate resilience. On the front of industrial implementation, representatives from leading enterprises such as SK Group, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, and NVIDIA, together with experts from Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other academic institutions, have shared practical experiences on topics including Research and development of intelligent computing technology, AI industrial applications, and green energy transition. In the area of global collaborative innovation, the forum established a North-South cooperation platform to facilitate the sharing of technological achievements and the co-creation of innovation capacities.

Link:https://www.shanghaieye.cn/detail?postId=132097