MiHoYo President Calls for Shanghai to Lead Global Digital Architecture

Liu Wei, the founder and president of the gaming giant MiHoYo and a deputy at the Shanghai People's Congress, said that Shanghai must transition from being a global "content supplier" to becoming the "architect" of the world's digital cultural ecosystem.

Liu emphasized that world-class industrial technology is the prerequisite for world-class cultural products. He drew a direct line from Pixar's revolution of animation to OpenAI's Sora model, noting that Shanghai's gaming industry – home to powerhouses like MiHoYo, Papergames, and Hypergryph – already possesses elite industrial pipelines.

"We shouldn't just be making games; we should be setting the standards," Liu said. He urged the city to treat "root technologies" like graphics engines and generative AI with the same strategic priority as semiconductors or biopharmaceuticals.

He said that when global creators adopt Chinese technical standards and ethical frameworks for AI, this will lead to a systemic leap in the international influence of Chinese culture.