On September 12, the 2026 Inclusion·Bund Conference closed at Shanghai's Huangpu Expo Park. Under the theme "Co-creating the AI New Economy," more than 670 guests from research, industry and investment explored AI's deep impact on production, consumption, business and society.
Over four days, 50-plus technologies, products and applications made their debut, covering agents, embodied intelligence, AI terminals, quantum tech and fintech. The event drew participants from 50-plus countries and regions, with over 78,000 on-site attendees (20% born after 2000) and 23 million online views.
Nobel laureates Thomas Sargent and Philippe Aghion discussed whether AI's productivity gains can become real economic growth, hinging on competition, education and employment adaptation. Peking University's Huang Yiping and SUFE's Liu Yuanchun stressed that AI investment must settle into real productive capacity.
Consensus formed that AI's economic value is shifting from cost reduction to creating new demand, supply and business increments, with agent commerce opening incremental space and "trustworthy infrastructure" rising in importance.
Source: China Daily
