As China and the United States race to expand their artificial intelligence capabilities, economists said the two countries need closer cooperation on global governance and safety standards in order to better manage the potential risks of the technology.在中美两国竞相提升人工智能能力之际,经济学家表示,两国需要在全球治理和安全标准方面加强合作,以更好应对该技术的潜在风险。While the US continues to lead in frontier AI research, large-scale models and computing power, economists said that China is rapidly catching up and has developed strengths in integrating AI into manufacturing, consumer services and other parts of the real economy, reflecting different development priorities in the two countries.尽管美国在前沿人工智能研究、大模型和算力方面继续保持领先,但经济学家表示,中国正在迅速追赶,并在将人工智能融入制造业、消费者服务及其他实体经济领域方面形成了优势,这反映了两国不同的发展重点。"There are two main players in the development of frontier AI — China and the US," economist and Nobel laureate Michael Spence told China Daily. "There's almost no measurable difference between them now in terms of performance. Whatever difference there was, China has caught up."“前沿人工智能的发展主要有两个参与者——中国和美国,”经济学家、诺贝尔奖得主迈克尔·斯宾塞在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。“就性能而言,现在两者几乎没有可测量的差异。无论过去存在什么差距,中国已经赶上了。”According to Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, US and Chinese AI models have traded places at the top of performance rankings multiple times since early 2025.根据斯坦福大学以人为本人工智能研究所的数据,自2025年初以来,美国和中国的人工智能模型在性能排名榜首位置已经多次交替。As of March, the top US model led by only 2.7 percent, with a marginal gap that fluctuated over the past year while remaining in single digits, according to the institute's 2026 AI Index Report.根据该研究所发布的《2026年人工智能指数报告》,截至今年3月,美国顶尖模型的领先幅度仅为2.7%,这一微小差距在过去一年中有所波动,但始终保持在个位数。"The models of AI innovation pursued by China and the US are actually quite different," said Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.“中美两国所追求的人工智能创新模式其实存在很大差异,”国际货币基金组织前副总裁朱民表示。"The US focuses on large models, massive computing power and a strong foundational base, aiming for what we call 'artificial superintelligence'. What the US pursues is the development of intelligence itself," he said.“美国专注于大模型、巨量算力和强大的基础底座,目标是所谓的‘人工超级智能’。美国追求的是智能本身的发展,”他说。China, according to Zhu, measures AI development by a different yardstick.朱民表示,中国衡量人工智能发展的标准不同。"China, in contrast, emphasizes applying AI to the real economy. When assessing whether AI is good or not, China places greater weight on the benefits and convenience it can bring to the real economy and to people's daily lives," he added.“相比之下,中国更强调将人工智能应用于实体经济。在评估人工智能优劣时,中国更看重它能给实体经济和人们的日常生活带来的效益和便利,”他补充道。Spence noted that China's systematic approach to deployment gives it an edge that the West currently lacks.斯宾塞指出,中国在部署方面的系统性做法使其具备了西方目前所缺乏的优势。"China has, in my view, in the context of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), a better set of either plans or intentions to make sure that AI is deployed by and adopted across a wide range of the economy, both in manufacturing and services," Spence said.“在我看来,在‘十五五’规划(2026-2030年)的背景下,中国在确保人工智能在制造业和服务业等广泛经济领域得到部署和应用方面,有一套更好的计划或意图,”斯宾塞说。"We talk a lot about the diffusion challenge, but we are just talking about it. We are not doing anything," he added.“我们经常谈论推广的挑战,但只是停留在口头上,并没有采取任何实际行动,”他补充道。As both China and the US, along with other economies, are scrambling to scale up their AI capabilities, the risks are increasing too — and not just economic ones.随着中美两国及其他经济体都在争相提升人工智能能力,相关风险也在增加——而且不仅仅是经济风险。"AI carries significant uncertainty, including risks related to society, the environment and potential military uses," Zhu warned.“人工智能具有巨大的不确定性,包括与社会、环境以及潜在军事用途相关的风险,”朱民警告说。"Therefore, establishing a governance framework and safety 'guardrails' for AI is, I believe, the most critical imperative for China and the US as the two leading players in this field, and it is also what the world expects of them," he added.“因此,为人工智能建立治理框架和安全‘护栏’,我认为是中美作为该领域两个领先国家最紧迫的任务,也是世界对它们的期望,”他补充道。"The US tends to favor exogenous governance — building external oversight frameworks for monitoring and compliance," Zhu said. "China emphasizes an endogenous approach, embedding safeguards from the very beginning, even before model deployment, to ensure that AI benefits humanity."“美国倾向于外生治理——建立用于监控和合规的外部监督框架,”朱民说。“中国强调内生方法,在模型部署之前就从一开始嵌入安全措施,以确保人工智能造福人类。”Zhu noted that "both approaches are valid, open to discussion, and could together shape the future of AI governance".朱民指出,“这两种方法都是有效的,可以讨论,并且可以共同塑造人工智能治理的未来。”Spence said the US and China "can probably cooperate on certain aspects of regulation, such as not using the technology for highly destructive purposes".斯宾塞表示,美国和中国“可能在监管的某些方面展开合作,例如不将该技术用于高度破坏性的目的”。China and the US agreed to launch an intergovernmental dialogue on AI, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun announced at a news conference earlier this month.中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆在本月初的一次新闻发布会上宣布,中美两国同意启动人工智能政府间对话。Guo said that China and the US need to work together to promote the development and improve the governance of AI to ensure that it will better contribute to the progress of human civilization and the common welfare of the international community.郭嘉昆表示,中美需要共同努力,推动人工智能的发展,完善人工智能的治理,确保人工智能更好促进人类文明进步和国际社会共同福祉。cooperation /kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃən/ 合作