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HOMEOWNER EQUITY TURNS BACK UPWARD ACROSS U.S. IN SECOND QUARTER OF 2024 AS HOME VALUES SURGE

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Half of Mortgaged Homeowners Once Again Equity-Rich; Portion of Owners Seriously Underwater Drops to Five-Year Low

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its second quarter 2024 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 49.2 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values.

The portion of mortgaged homeowners in equity-rich territory during the second quarter of 2024 rose from 45.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, matching a high point reached in the Spring of last year. The increase reversed a series of three straight quarterly declines and marked one of the best gains in the past five years.

While equity-rich levels improved, the report also reveals that the portion of home mortgages that were seriously underwater in the U.S. declined to 2.4 percent during the second quarter, or just one in 42. That was down from 2.7 percent in the prior quarter to the lowest level since at least 2019. Seriously underwater mortgages are those with combined estimated balances of loans secured by properties that are at least 25 percent more than those properties’ estimated market values.

The second-quarter equity gains came as home prices spiked during the 2024 Spring buying season, with the median national price shooting up 9 percent quarterly to a new record of $365,000. Rising prices helped raise equity levels throughout most of the country by widening the gap between the estimated value of homes and the amounts homeowners owed on their loans.

“Homeowner wealth took a notable turn for the better during the second quarter as equity levels piggybacked on some of the biggest home-price spikes we’ve seen in recent years,” said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “After a period where equity seemed stagnant or even declining, this brought another boost of good news for homeowners from the enduring housing market boom. Supplies of homes for sale remain limited these days and buyer demand is typically elevated during the Summertime. So, it should be no surprise if home values go even higher and take equity along for the ride.”

The latest market pattern reflects a period when the housing market rebounded from several sluggish quarters of price gains and losses. Values surged amid a tight supply of homes combined with the usual Springtime increase in buyer demand. Additional help came from relatively stable home-mortgage rates that hovered back and forth around 7 percent for a 30-year fixed loan as well as a national unemployment rate that fell below 4 percent and investment markets that hit new highs.

Equity-rich shares of mortgages climb throughout U.S.
The portion of mortgages that were equity-rich increased in 48 of the 50 U.S. states from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024, commonly by more than two percentage points. Measured annually, equity-rich levels were up in 31 states as the nationwide figure of 49.2 percent equity-rich in the second quarter of this year matched the portion from the second quarter of 2023. 

The biggest quarterly increases came in lower-priced markets, mainly across the South and Midwest regions, led by Kentucky (where the portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich increased from 28.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 37.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Illinois (up from 28.3 percent to 36.1 percent), Missouri (up from 38.3 percent to 45.5 percent), Oklahoma (up from 28.1 percent to 34.5 percent) and Alabama (up from 35.7 percent to 41.9 percent).

At the other end of the scale, equity-rich levels remained the same in two states (staying at 54 percent in Utah and 51.5 percent in South Dakota). The smallest increases were in North Dakota (up from 31.5 percent to 32 percent), California (up from 58.6 percent to 59.4 percent) and Louisiana (up from 20.1 percent to 21 percent).

Seriously underwater mortgage levels also improve in most states
The portion of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater declined nationwide during the second quarter of 2024 to one in 42. That was down from one in 37 in the first quarter of 2024 and one in 36 in the second quarter of last year – well below the ratio of one in 15 recorded in 2019. The rate decreased in 47 states quarterly and 37 states annually.

As with rising equity-rich levels, the biggest decreases in seriously underwater mortgages were clustered mainly in the South and Midwest. The largest quarterly decreases were in Wyoming (share of mortgaged homes that were seriously underwater down from 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Kentucky (down from 8.3 percent to 6.3 percent), Illinois (down from 5.2 percent to 4 percent), Oklahoma (down from 6.1 percent to 5 percent) and Alabama (down from 3.6 percent to 2.8 percent).

On the flip side, two states saw slight increases in the percentage of seriously underwater homes from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024. They were Utah (up from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent) and South Dakota (up from 3 percent to 3.1 percent). The rate was unchanged in three states: New Mexico (2.6 percent), Kansas (2.9 percent) and Idaho (2.4 percent).

Largest levels of equity-rich homeowners still in higher-priced markets of Northeast and West
The 10 states with the highest levels of equity-rich mortgaged properties around the U.S. during the second quarter of 2024 again were in the Northeast or West regions. Those with the largest portions were Vermont (83.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Maine (61.5 percent), New Hampshire (61.1 percent), Montana (61.1 percent) and Rhode Island (60.2 percent).

Nine of the 10 states with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties during the second quarter of 2024 were in the Midwest or South. The smallest portions were in Louisiana (21 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Alaska (31 percent), North Dakota (32 percent), West Virginia (33.6 percent) and Oklahoma (34.5 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas around the nation with a population of at least 500,000, upscale markets where median home values topped $400,000 again dominated the list of places with the highest portion of mortgaged properties that were equity-rich during the second quarter. (See ATTOM’s latest Q2 2024 U.S. home sales report)

Those markets were led by San Jose, CA (70.4 percent equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $1.6 million); Miami, FL (65.4 percent, with a median price of $485,000); San Diego, CA (65.4 percent, with a median price of $910,000); Los Angeles, CA (65.3 percent, with a median price of $963,500) and Portland, ME (65.1 percent, with a median price of $499,411).

The leader in the Midwest continued to be Grand Rapids, MI (57.2 percent equity-rich, with a median price of $325,000).

The metro areas with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties in the second quarter of 2024 remained mostly in low-priced markets of the South and Midwest. The smallest levels were in Baton Rouge, LA (17.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $235,000); New Orleans, LA (27.1 percent, with a median price of $255,000); Jackson, MS (29.2 percent, with a median price of $262,421); Virginia Beach, VA (30.3 percent, with a median price of $329,000) and Little Rock, AR (32.5 percent, with a median price of $224,268).

The portion of mortgaged homes considered equity rich increased from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024 in 99 of the 107 metro areas with sufficient data (93 percent), but was still down from the second quarter of 2023 to the same period of 2024 in 57 percent.

Top equity-rich counties again concentrated in Midwest, Northeast and West
Among 1,747 counties that had at least 2,500 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, the top 30 equity-rich locations were spread across the Midwest, Northeast or West regions, with Michigan and Vermont leading the way.

Counties with the highest share of equity-rich properties were Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (90.8 percent equity rich); Benzie County (Beulah), MI (89.2 percent); Manistee County, MI (86.6 percent); Washington County (Montpelier), VT (86.3 percent) and Marquette County, MI (85.4 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the highest equity-rich levels were Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA (71.4 percent equity-rich); Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (69.9 percent); Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach), FL (68.2 percent); Miami-Dade County, FL (67.6 percent) and San Diego County, CA (65.4 percent).

Nineteen of the 20 counties with the smallest share of equity-rich homes in the second quarter of 2024 were in the South. The lowest were in Vernon Parish (Leesville), LA (5.4 percent equity rich); Long County, GA (south of Savannah) (9.2 percent); Ascension Parish, LA (outside Baton Rouge) (9.7 percent); Acadia Parish, LA (outside Lafayette) (10 percent) and Arkansas County, AR (east of Little Rock (10.7 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the smallest equity-rich portions were Cook County (Chicago), IL (34.8 percent equity-rich); Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN (38.6 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (39 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (40.6 percent) and New York County (Manhattan), NY (43.1 percent).

At least 50 percent of all mortgaged properties considered equity-rich in almost half of all U.S. zip codes
Among 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 residential properties with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were 4,263 (46.7 percent) where at least half the mortgaged properties were equity-rich.

Among the top 50 zip codes, 41 were in California, Florida or Texas, including five each in Santa Barbara, CA, and Irvine, CA. The largest shares were in zip codes 49855 in Marquette, MI (87.1 percent of mortgaged properties were equity-rich); 93110 in Santa Barbara, CA (86.2 percent); 92657 in Newport Coast, CA (85.9 percent); 57702 in Rapid City, SD (85.5 percent) and 76115 in Fort Worth, TX (85.4 percent).

Largest shares of seriously underwater mortgages continue in Midwest and South
The Midwest and South regions had 18 of the top 20 states with the highest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of this year. The top five were Louisiana (10.5 percent seriously underwater), Mississippi (6.8 percent), Kentucky (6.3 percent), Arkansas (5.4 percent) and Iowa (5.2 percent).

The smallest shares were in Vermont (0.7 percent seriously underwater), Rhode Island (0.9 percent), New Hampshire (1 percent), Massachusetts (1.1 percent) and California (1.2 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 500,000, those with the largest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of 2024 were Baton Rouge, LA (11 percent); New Orleans, LA (7.4 percent); Jackson, MS (6.1 percent); Little Rock, AR (4.7 percent) and Lexington, KY (4.7 percent).

More than 20 percent of residential mortgages seriously underwater in less than 1 percent zip codes
Among the 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were only 19 locations where more than 20 percent of mortgaged properties were seriously underwater.

The top five zip codes with the largest shares of seriously underwater properties in the second quarter of 2024 were 39180 in Vicksburg, MI (38.8 percent of mortgaged homes were seriously underwater); 42445 in Princeton, KY (36 percent); 71446 in Leesville, LA (33.4 percent); 44108 in Cleveland, OH (32.7 percent) and 44112 in Cleveland, OH (30 percent).

Report methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Home Equity & Underwater report provides counts of properties based on several categories of equity — or loan to value (LTV) — at the state, metro, county and zip code level, along with the percentage of total properties with a mortgage that each equity category represents. The equity/LTV is calculated based on record-level loan model estimating position and amount of loans secured by a property and a record-level automated valuation model (AVM) derived from publicly recorded mortgage and deed of trust data collected and licensed by ATTOM nationwide for more than 155 million U.S. properties. The ATTOM Home Equity and Underwater report has been updated and modified to better reflect a housing market focused on the traditional home buying process. ATTOM found that markets where investors were more prominent, they would offset the loan to value ratio due to sales involving multiple properties with a single jumbo loan encompassing all of the properties. Therefore, going forward such activity is now excluded from the reports in order to provide traditional consumer home purchase and loan activity.

Definitions
Seriously underwater: Loan to value ratio of 125 percent or above, meaning the property owner owed at least 25 percent more than the estimated market value of the property.

Equity-rich: Loan to value ratio of 50 percent or lower, meaning the property owner had at least 50 percent equity. 

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications– AI-Ready Solutions. 

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

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Black Lake Technologies Shortlisted as SAIL Award TOP30 Finalist and Selected as Global Industrial AI Flagship Case, Showcasing Latest Industrial Agent at WAIC 2026

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July 18, 2026

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SHANGHAI, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) opened in Shanghai on July 17. Shanghai Blacklake Technologies Co., Ltd. (“Black Lake”), an industrial AI company, is showcasing a portfolio of industrial AI agents at the conference. The company has also been named to the Top 30 shortlist for the 2026 WAIC Super AI Leader (SAIL) Award and selected as a Trusted Partner under the Global Call for Trusted Partners for Industrial AI in the Global South.

The accreditations highlight Black Lake’s latest progress in bringing AI into critical manufacturing decision-making workflows and deploying industrial AI capabilities on the shop floor around the world.

This year’s conference attracted over 1,100 exhibiting companies and showcased more than 3,000 exhibits, setting a new record for exhibition scale. The conference delivered a clear signal: as artificial intelligence becomes a common priority across global industries, attention is moving beyond model capabilities toward practical applications in real-world operating environments.

Manufacturing provides a particularly demanding test for this transition. Factory operations are governed by multiple constraints, including process specifications, equipment capabilities, material availability, production capacity, delivery schedules and quality requirements. Therefore, AI has to do so much more than simply comprehend information input. It must make reliable judgments within clearly defined business rules and operational constraints.

Black Lake has focused on industrial digitalization and industrial AI for years, developing and deploying AI applications in a range of factory environments.

At WAIC 2026, the company is presenting industrial AI agents covering order splitting and process planning, quotation and pricing, procurement, production scheduling, quality inspection, and order tracking. These applications are designed to move AI beyond an auxiliary role and into critical manufacturing decision-making workflows.

Traditional industrial software is primarily responsible for data recording, digital workflows, and worker coordination. However, critical decisions such as how to split an order, determine pricing, schedule production, and assess quality risks still depend heavily on the experience of engineers and frontline workers.

Industrial AI agents are intended to convert fragmented industrial knowledge and production experience into decision-making capabilities that can be invoked, reused and continuously refined by software systems.

Order decomposition and process planning are representative examples. After receiving an engineering drawing, a factory typically relies on experienced engineers to identify components, materials and dimensions, define the required manufacturing processes and technical specifications, and establish a basis for subsequent quotation and quality inspection.

The process is highly dependent on individual expertise and represents one of the first critical decision points after an order is received.

Black Lake Technologies’ CAD-to-Process Agent can understand product drawings and, taking into account the factory’s equipment capabilities, process requirements, and production practices, rapidly generate process steps along with the corresponding technical requirements. Drawing analysis that once took hours can now be completed in approximately one minute, achieving an accuracy rate of over 95% in real deployment and providing engineers with stable, efficient decision support. Currently, the industrial agents developed by the company cover core processes including design, scheduling, production, and quality inspection, and have entered the stage of large-scale deployment.

Founded in 2016, Black Lake serves nearly 40,000 factories worldwide. Its customers span more than 30 industries, including food and beverage, automotive components and equipment manufacturing.

By working across factory order management, production and fulfillment workflows, Black Lake has accumulated the technical capabilities and industry knowledge required to support decision-making in complex industrial environments.

In April 2026, Black Lake completed a Series D funding round of nearly RMB 1 billion. The company said the proceeds would primarily be used to accelerate the deployment of its industrial AI products and support its international expansion.

AI-related products are becoming a new source of growth for the company. In a recent interview, Black Lake founder and CEO Zhou Yuxiang said that the company had recorded significant growth in AI-related revenue since the beginning of 2026. He also said that manufacturing customers were taking less time to make purchasing decisions for industrial AI agents.

Zhou expects AI adoption among Chinese factories to increase substantially over the next three to four years.

Unlike consumer-facing AI, which is primarily associated with content generation and personal productivity, industrial AI agents can directly affect production costs, capacity utilization, delivery performance, and product quality. Their commercial value therefore depends largely on whether they can perform specific tasks reliably in complex production environments.

During WAIC 2026, Black Lake was named to the Top 30 shortlist for the 2026 Super AI Leader (SAIL) Award. The SAIL Award is one of WAIC’s major awards and recognizes achievements in technological breakthroughs, application innovation, and industrial value.

Black Lake was also selected as a Trusted Partner under UNIDO’s Global Call for Trusted Partners for Industrial AI in the Global South.

The Global Call was launched under the guidance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, and in connection with the work of UNIDO AIM Global and its Shanghai-based Centre of Excellence.

The initiative aims to build a curated pool of leading partners to co-develop scalable industrial AI solutions and public goods for the Global South.

For Black Lake, the two accreditations underscore the growing importance of reliability, explainability, and scalability in the evaluation of industrial AI, in addition to the capabilities of AI models.

Global expansion will be a major priority in the company’s next phase of development. Black Lake is currently focusing on Southeast Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, adapting its industrial AI agents to the industrial structures, production processes and management requirements of different markets.

Although manufacturing operations vary across countries and regions, manufacturers share similar concerns about efficiency, quality, delivery reliability and production flexibility.

Black Lake is transforming industrial AI capabilities that have been validated in complex factory environments into configurable and deployable products. Through these products, the company aims to work with manufacturers worldwide to explore more efficient, flexible and intelligent approaches to production.

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SOURCE Black Lake

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76% of Coupon Codes Work at Checkout, but Most Failures Trace Back to Terms Shoppers Never Read, CouponDopa Study Finds

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July 18, 2026

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Study Finds 76% of Coupon Codes Work at Checkout

NEW YORK, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Multi-country research across 11 regions finds that most coupon code failures were not due to expired codes, but to terms and conditions shoppers did not check before checkout.

Our research shows that most coupon code failures are caused by overlooked terms and conditions not expired codes. Understanding the offer requirements can significantly improve checkout success.” — Anderson Joe, CMO, CouponDopa

A new study testing 1,000 coupon codes across 11 countries found that three in four online discount codes applied successfully at checkout, while the remaining failures were tied more often to unmet terms than to expired or invalid codes.

The research was conducted by CouponDopa, a multi-regional coupon platform operating in 11 countries. Codes were tested across multiple retail categories in July 2026 to measure real checkout success rates.

KEY FINDINGS

Overall success rate: 76%. Overall failure rate: 24%. Highest-performing country: Netherlands, 81%. Lowest-performing countries: Poland and Italy, tied at 70%. Highest-performing category: Electronics. Lowest-performing category: Travel. Desktop success rate: 78%. Mobile success rate: 74%.

The study’s most significant finding was not the failure rate itself, but the reasons behind it.

“The assumption most shoppers make is that a coupon code doesn’t work because it’s expired,” said Anderson Joe, CMO at CouponDopa. “Our testing found that expiry was rarely the primary issue. In most failed attempts, the code was still active, but the shopper’s cart did not meet a listed condition, such as a minimum spend or a region restriction.”

WHY COUPON CODES ACTUALLY FAIL

Minimum spend not met: the most common reason for failure across all 11 regions, since many codes require a basket value above a set threshold.Region-specific restrictions: codes valid in one country frequently failed in another.Unread terms and conditions: codes were applied to excluded categories, sale items, or specific product ranges without checking eligibility first.Delivery and shipping thresholds: free shipping codes requiring a minimum order value were sometimes mistaken for blanket offers.

No exact percentage breakdown of failure causes is available. Minimum spend is confirmed as the single most common cause; the other three were not ranked against each other.

“In our view, a code that fails because of an unmet minimum spend is not necessarily a broken code,” said Anderson. “It may simply be a condition the shopper did not see before checkout.”

REGIONAL FINDINGS — NETHERLANDS LEADS

Country Success Rate

Netherlands 81%

Germany 79%

United States 77%

Canada 77%

United Kingdom 76%

Australia 75%

New Zealand 74%

France 73%

Spain 72%

Poland 70%

Italy 70%

Netherlands recorded the highest success rate of the 11 regions tested. Germany followed closely. The United Kingdom matched the overall study average, and Canada and the United States recorded the same rate. Poland and Italy recorded the lowest rates in the study, tied at 70%.

ELECTRONICS OUTPERFORMS TRAVEL

Electronics recorded the highest coupon code success rate of any category tested, at 80%, while travel recorded the lowest, at 69%.

“Electronics codes in our sample tended to carry fewer conditions,” noted Anderson Joe. “Travel codes more often included conditions tied to dates, destinations, or booking windows, which may explain the difference.”

MOBILE SHOPPERS RECORD LOWER SUCCESS RATES

Desktop checkouts recorded a 78% success rate compared with 74% for mobile, a 4-point gap. Researchers said the difference may relate to how terms are displayed on smaller screens, though this was not directly tested.

“We saw a consistent gap between desktop and mobile across our markets,” said Anderson Joe. “We can’t say precisely why from this data alone, but it’s a pattern worth further study.”

ABOUT THE STUDY

CouponDopa tested 1,000 coupon codes across 11 countries during July 2026, across electronics, fashion, food delivery, travel, beauty, and home categories. Codes were manually tested at real checkouts on desktop and mobile. A code counted as successful only when the discount appeared in the checkout total. Failed codes were categorized by reason. Read the complete methodology available at CouponDopa tested 1000 coupon codes in 11 regions.

ABOUT COUPONDOPA

CouponDopa is a multi-regional coupon and discount platform operating across 11 countries. CouponDopa verifies coupon codes across hundreds of brands before publishing, providing shoppers with discount information across major retail categories, including verified codes available on CouponDopa’s store pages.

MEDIA CONTACT

Organization: Coupondopa

Contact Person Name: Anderson Joe

Website: https://www.coupondopa.com/

Email: info@coupondopa.com

Contact Number: +1 (530) 269-6377

Address: 165 ithaca Bayshore NY, 11706 USA

City: Bay Shore

State: NY

Country: United States

Media Contact

Anderson Joe, Coupondopa, 1 631 404-9968, coupondopa@gmail.com, https://www.coupondopa.com/

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Global Times: Head-of-state diplomacy shines at WAIC, fostering ties and advancing global governance consensus

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July 18, 2026

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BEIJING, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday held a series of high-level meetings on the sidelines of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, sitting down successively with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The bustling diplomatic activity transformed the WAIC from a premier showcase of AI technologies and industrial breakthroughs into a vibrant platform for head-of-state diplomacy and global governance coordination.

Analysts said hosting intensive head-of-state diplomatic events in Shanghai, a core hub of reform, opening-up and technological innovation, carries profound meaning. In addition, Friday’s high-level meetings embody the innovative model of “technology builds the stage while diplomacy takes the leading role.” It not only deepens China’s bilateral relations with ASEAN members, but also helps advance inclusive global AI governance centered on the UN mechanism.

Strategic guidance

According to the two separate official releases by Xinhua, during his meetings with the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia, President Xi spoke of the long-standing friendship China shares with both nations. He called on China and Thailand, as well as China and Cambodia, to join hands to advance the development of their respective communities with a shared future.

Furthermore, the Chinese leader stressed the need for China to expand pragmatic cooperation with Thailand and Cambodia respectively across traditional and emerging sectors, and work with each country to jointly crack down on cross-border crimes such as online gambling and telecom fraud, according to Xinhua.

He called for the proper handling of border frictions between Thailand and Cambodia and called on the two sides to resolve disputes through dialogue and consultation, with China standing ready to continue playing a constructive role in this regard, per Xinhua.

During their respective meetings with the Chinese leader, the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia both expressed willingness to deepen multi-field cooperation with China and spoke highly of China’s positive efforts to facilitate the peaceful settlement of the Thailand-Cambodia border conflicts.

Xu Liping, Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that head-of-state diplomacy has charted the fundamental course for the advancement of China’s ties with both Cambodia and Thailand.

WAIC exemplifies the innovative model of “technology builds the platform, while diplomacy takes the leading role,” said Xu, “In addition, AI cooperation is also expected to serve as a vital entry point to further deepen and substantiate China’s ties with Thailand and Cambodia going forward.”

Furthermore, addressing the sensitive and thorny Thailand-Cambodia border dispute amid the relatively relaxed atmosphere of a tech summit enables all relevant parties to handle differences in a rational and pragmatic manner, which embodies Eastern wisdom and an Asian approach to resolving issues, said Xu.

The year 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, witnessing the official rollout of the new Plan of Action on the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030). It also kicks off the implementation of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.

The critical juncture offers a perfect window to align China’s development plans closely with the national development strategies of Global South countries and ASEAN members, said Xu. “Thailand and Cambodia’s willingness to ramp up cooperation with China mirrors the aspiration of the majority of ASEAN members to leverage China’s development dividends and pursue win-win outcomes and common prosperity in the region.”

Firm support for UN

In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, Xi reiterated China’s firm support for the UN.

Noting that this year marks the 55th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China at the UN, the Chinese leader said China has since been committed to building world peace, contributing to global development, defending international order, and firmly supporting the UN, Xinhua reported.

Xi added that he proposed the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four global initiatives with one important consideration in mind – to uphold the status and authority of the UN.

Currently, the international landscape is marked by more pronounced changes and turbulence, making it all the more necessary to practice true multilateralism and reinvigorate the status and role of the UN, he said.

Guterres commended China for its steadfast support for multilateralism, the cause of the UN, and international cooperation, saying that China has set an example for the world.

Guterres said the UN will continue to strengthen cooperation with China, oppose unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonic bullying, safeguard the UN Charter and international law, as well as advance the process toward a multipolar world.

At this pivotal juncture where talks on AI development and UN multilateral governance converge, China, leveraging head-of-state diplomacy as a top-tier platform, has elaborated in a systematic manner its vision for global governance in the AI era, Wang Yiwei, a professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

He added that China’s emphasis on the UN-centered global governance architecture will further strengthen the UN’s authority and operational capacity.

Before the official opening of the WAIC, on Thursday, representatives from 29 countries, including Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan, Russia and Indonesia, signed an agreement on establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai. UN chief Guterres was among representatives from countries and international organizations present at the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement, WAICO will be an independent intergovernmental international organization, which aims to promote international cooperation and global governance on AI, ensuring that AI is beneficial, safe and fair, thereby promoting its healthy and orderly development to benefit all humanity.

President Xi on Friday also announced that in the next five years, China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs. China will also develop international AI application cooperation centers with the ASEAN, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS.

However, some international media, including Reuters and Nikkei, used the term “AI diplomacy” describing the grand gathering in Shanghai, claiming that Beijing seeks a new global AI order, challenging US dominance.

In rebuttal, Wang pointed out that China advocates open, inclusive technology that lets AI benefit all humanity under the vision of “AI for All”. In contrast, the US adheres to a mindset of “All for AI”, weaponizing AI for geopolitical rivalry and aiming to outpace China in technological competition. Driven by the “America First” doctrine and capital-centric priorities, Washington’s approach forms a sharp contrast with China’s.

Meanwhile, China’s resolute commitment to upholding the UN system underscores that for China and a wide array of Global South countries, the sensible path lies in reforming and improving the existing global governance architecture rather than discarding it to build parallel institutions from scratch, the expert added.

This article first appeared on Global Times

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SOURCE Global Times

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