Web Summit expects record Chinese delegation in Lisbon

Web Summit will host its largest delegation of Chinese technology leaders in Lisbon this November, with participants from Tencent, Xiaomi, XPENG, Pony.ai, Manus AI and robotics companies. China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Cyberspace Administration of China will also send delegations. The gathering is expected to attract more than 70,000 attendees and will feature Chinese humanoid robots.

The expanded presence comes amid intensifying competition between China and the United States over advanced technologies and open-source AI. OpenRouter data cited by Web Summit showed Chinese AI models accounted for 57% to 67% of tokens used on the platform during the week of September 14, 2026, compared with 6% to 13% in February. Research by Andreessen Horowitz found that 80% of developers working with open-source tools were using Chinese technology.

The conference will bring together industry leaders and policymakers to discuss innovation, security, market access and technological sovereignty as Chinese-developed systems gain traction internationally. More than 700 business and technology founders and executives will participate across 17 tracks. Speakers include Amazon AGI Lab’s Danielle Perszyk, Replit President and Head of AI Michele Catasta, European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Manus co-founder Tao Zhang. Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave said many participating Chinese speakers and exhibitors have rarely addressed Western audiences.