An attendee interacts with a robot during the 2025 SCO Digital Economy Forum in Tianjin on July 11. [Photo/China News Service]

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization remains committed to deepening pragmatic cooperation in artificial intelligence, and China's rapid development in the field is drawing growing attention from other SCO countries, officials and experts said.

AI cooperation is among the fastest-growing areas within the SCO. In recent years, a series of important multilateral agreements have been concluded and member states have adopted a plan for cooperation on AI development, said SCO Deputy Secretary-General Oleg Kopylov.

"Within the SCO framework, we will promote the interconnection of AI and digital infrastructure, improve the AI ecosystem, foster coordinated development across national industries, and at the same time strengthen academic exchanges and cooperation on talent cultivation," Kopylov said.

China and other SCO countries are continuously deepening exchanges and cooperation in AI, with a number of enterprises and projects actively participating and achieving notable results, said Huang Ru, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission.

Huang said "AI-plus agriculture "is transforming the face of the industry, and is also a microcosm of how China is providing the world with various AI-powered products.

In May, usually a month of bumper soybean harvest, Ji Jiangtao, a technician from Tianjin-based agricultural machinery manufacturer Nongxin Technology, was in Ussuriysk in Russia's Far East training local farmers to use automatic navigation for agricultural machinery.

Ji said the machines execute operations precisely along preset routes through positioning technology coupled with AI algorithms. The system employs an adaptive path-tracking algorithm and can navigate in straight lines as well as curved, circular and automatic U-turn modes, effectively enhancing operational efficiency.

"We are continuously intensifying research in smart agriculture, and have already sold dozens of sets of agricultural machinery automatic navigation systems to Russia," said Yan Bingxin, a senior engineer at Nongxin Technology.

In another case, a pool-cleaning robot from China, remotely operated via a mobile app, is gaining popularity in Kazakhstan as it leverages an integrated infrared-ultrasonic sensor suite and AI-driven path planning to methodically clean every part of the pool.

"Users can monitor both the route and the process even when they are away," noted Yu Guoxing, a manager at Deepinfar Ocean Technology. He said that a Kazakh distributor has placed a single order for 40 units, while the appeal of underwater intelligent devices is also drawing interest from users in Russia and Tajikistan.

Industry observers say these discrete pilots are not isolated. Together, they sketch an emerging regional latticework of innovation. Teng Bingsheng, professor of strategic management and associate dean for strategic research at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, said China's advances in AI applications can help other participating countries achieve leapfrog development and narrow the digital technology divide.

The SCO encompasses 42 percent of the world's population, offering abundant application scenarios and vast data resources for AI, Teng said.

Such regional cooperation helps build a more open and inclusive AI ecosystem, contributes an "SCO approach" to global AI governance, and promotes better use of AI in serving regional development and improving people's livelihoods, Teng added.

Beyond firm-led pilot projects, governments of the SCO countries are articulating national AI adoption pathways. Kyrgyzstan, for instance, hopes to study in-depth and draw on the technological achievements and practical experience of China and other member states in the field of AI.

"China serves as a model for us in developing AI. The Chinese government has continuously increased its efforts in AI technology and resource investment, and has introduced a series of supportive policies that have produced remarkable results," said Azat Ibraimov, director for management and monitoring of the implementation of decisions of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan.

Ibraimov said China has introduced many advanced AI models and platforms whose open, shared technological resources provide useful references for other countries.

With China's experience, Kyrgyzstan aims to develop AI technologies suited to its own national conditions and gradually narrow the gap with more technologically advanced nations, he said.

Another SCO member state, Tajikistan, is among the early adopters of AI among the five Central Asian countries and has designated 2025-30 the Years of Digital Economy and Innovation Development.

Azizjon Azimi, chairman of the AI Council under Tajikistan's Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, said the digital economy can only flourish with AI as an enabling force and that AI has strongly propelled the country's economic development.

"We are amazed by the pace and scale of China's AI development. China commands strong research and development strengths. Meanwhile, Tajikistan, as a leading nation in green hydropower, can furnish training resources to support China's frontier large models, helping more innovations like DeepSeek to arise and unlocking greater growth potential," Azimi said.