On 28 March 2026, Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh delivered a keynote speech at the »Sci-Tech Governance Under the Rule of Law Forum«, held as part of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing. Now in its third edition, the forum was jointly organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice, the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission / Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park, and Tsinghua University School of Law. It brought together senior representatives from the Chinese judiciary, government, academia, and the technology sector to discuss the legal governance of emerging technologies.
In his address, titled »Navigating Europe’s AI Governance Challenges: Digital Autonomy, Public Discourse and Equitable Distribution of Welfare Gains,« Prof. Towfigh offered a European — and specifically German — perspective on three interconnected dimensions of AI governance. He examined the challenge of safeguarding digital sovereignty in a landscape dominated by a small number of global technology companies, the risks that algorithmic systems pose to democratic public discourse, and the question of how the productivity gains generated by AI can be distributed more broadly across society rather than accruing to a narrow group of corporate actors. He argued that Europe must develop a distinct yet open approach to AI governance, one that takes transnational cooperation seriously while robustly protecting fundamental rights — and that like-minded states should work together more closely to demonstrate that values-based, rule-of-law-grounded AI governance is both necessary and achievable.
Other keynote speakers included Cui Guobin, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Law, Ren Xuefeng, Vice President of Beijing High People’s Court, and Tian Xianghong, Deputy Procurator-General of the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality, among others. The keynote session was followed by a round-table discussion on »Law for AI, AI for Law.« The forum received coverage on CCTV13, Chinese national television’s news channel.
