At the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) launched a new early warning initiative, "MAZU," aimed at strengthening international cooperation on extreme weather and climate risks.

MAZU stands for Multi-hazard, Alert, Zero-gap, and Universal, and it's also the name of the revered maritime and weather guardian in Chinese coastal culture. The system aims to establish a global early warning service network covering multiple disaster types, offering scalable, customizable, and sustainable AI-powered solutions tailored to the needs of different countries.

Expert said the release of the "MAZU" plan marks another milestone in China's fast-evolving AI development, which is shifting from industrial use to broader public services.

To help narrow the early warning capability gap - particularly in developing countries - the CMA said it will provide technical support, co-develop forecasting tools such as the "City Toolbox" and "FY Earth Toolbox," and share China's practical experience, including tiered meteorological services and high-level alert-response mechanisms.

MAZU will also support capacity building through international training programs, scholarship schemes, and academic exchanges to cultivate early warning professionals around the world.

In recent years, China's AI industry has rapidly progressed from enabling technologies to transforming entire systems, penetrating traditional sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and energy - driving automation and fostering human-machine collaboration, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday. "Meanwhile, it is transforming public services such as education, healthcare, and transportation by improving resource allocation and enabling more personalized, equitable delivery."

China is actively building a global disaster response network in support of the UN's "Early Warnings for All" initiative, aiming to strengthen its technological support in global climate governance, Wang said.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China has become the world's largest holder of AI-related patents, accounting for 60 percent of the global total, Xinhua News Agency reported. As of April, China had filed 1.576 million AI patent applications, accounting for 38.58 percent of global filings - the highest globally.

China's rapid AI breakthroughs are driven by the synergy of technology, policy, and market forces - a "triple-helix" model of innovation, state support, and demand, Wang added.

He added that with advancements in frontier technologies such as quantum computing and AI agents, China is poised to strengthen its technological sovereignty and play a more pivotal role in shaping an intelligent and inclusive global AI future.