On 11 June, as a key supporting event of London Tech Week, the (WFT) 2026 World Future Technology Development Summit opened in grand fashion at the Royal Engineering Hall of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on the banks of the River Thames in London, where the London Joint Declaration was issued. Guided by the philosophy of Peter Nobel, Chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST), and anchored in the vision of “AI for Good, Innovation for Good, Capital for Good, and Shaping the Future with Love” put forward by Benjamin Fok Chun-yue — Permanent Director of the Fok Ying Tung Foundation and Honorary Chairman of the IPEF International Private Equity Forum & GAiS Global AI Summit and of WFT — the summit drew 300 distinguished guests from government, business, academia, research and investment circles worldwide. Centred on the themes of humanity’s vision and family legacy, and focusing on frontier technology fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, intelligent manufacturing and commercial aerospace, participants explored in depth humanity’s future living space and the pathways to continuously advancing human wellbeing. The summit successfully established a globalised cooperation platform for multilateral technological collaboration and industrial interconnection, achieving a series of fruitful outcomes.
The summit was co-hosted by the World Federation for Future Technology Development (WFT) together with the UK’s 48 Group and the IPEF International Private Equity Forum & GAiS Global AI Summit; organised by the International Youth Sustainable Innovation Summit (YSS); and supported as co-organisers by the National Advertising Research Institute and the International Green Future Alliance (IGFA). iFlytek served as Official Partner providing technical support, while Nouvelles d’Europe UK and Phoenix North America served as official media providing publicity support; London & Partners (L&P), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and other authoritative bodies lent their strong backing. The event featured three core sections — the Opening Plenary, the Intelligent Manufacturing and Sustainable Technology Development Forum, and the Technology Finance Forum — alongside signature activities including the launch of the WFT Think Tank, the unveiling of the GAAI Alliance, the release of the “AI Brand Asset White Paper”, the technology-innovation enterprise awards, the signing of the Going-Global Technology framework agreement, high-level roundtable dialogues, cross-border resource matchmaking, corporate visits, and a high-end dinner at the Houses of Parliament. Through the synergy of its multiple sections, the summit built a full-chain cross-border technology ecosystem platform.
The opening plenary was rich in highlights, with a succession of prominent guests taking the stage to deliver keynote speeches. Among those appearing were Ben Houchen, Metro Mayor of the Tee; Baroness Manzila Uddin, member of the UK House of Lords; Benjamin Fok Chun-yue, Permanent Director of the Fok Ying Tung Foundation and Honorary Chairman of the IPEF International Private Equity Forum & GAiS Global AI Summit and of WFT; Peter Nobel, Chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Trust; Yu Xiong, Chairman of WFT and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK); Mark Ma, Founding Chairman of WFT and Executive Chairman of YSS; Jing Li, Founding Chairman of WFT and Founder of the IPEF International Private Equity Forum & GAiS Global AI Summit; Zheng Wei, Co-Chairman of WFT and Founder & CEO of the Singapore Xingdao Shanmeng Business and Philanthropy Forum (AFG&BP); Jie Thomas Yang, Co-Chairman of WFT and Chairman of the GenAI Summit Paris; Jack Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group; Patrick Parsons, heir to the 7th Earl of Ross; Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, former Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Sri Lanka; Professor Xiaolan Fu, Professor at Oxford University and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK); Neil Brigden, Director of Foreign Direct Investment at London & Partners; and Toni Allen, Chief Growth & Partnership Officer at the IET.
Baroness Manzila Uddin, speaking on the theme “Technology Cooperation between Developed and Developing Countries”, shared approaches to collaboration in global digital identity, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other fields; Jack Perry spoke on technology empowering global governance and development; Neil Brigden introduced London’s technology-innovation environment and its innovative industrial landscape; and Toni Allen discussed technological collaboration among different economies worldwide. Yu Xiong, Luiz Moutinho, Xiaolan Fu, Rohitha Bogollagama and Mark Ma jointly took part in the ribbon-cutting for the launch of the WFT Think Tank, while Professor Xiaolan Fu and Professor Luiz Moutinho jointly inaugurated the establishment ceremony of the GAAI Alliance. Drawing on corporate practice, Benjamin Fok Chun-yue interpreted the globalisation pathway of Chinese technology enterprises. In the high-level roundtable dialogue on the new landscape of global technology cooperation, guests including Baroness Manzila Uddin, Rohitha Bogollagama and Jing Li exchanged views on stage, jointly exploring the direction of building an equal, open and interconnected cross-border technology-innovation ecosystem and forging consensus on industry development. During the event, Xin Wang and Zhanting Xu released the “2026 White Paper on the Development of AI Brand Asset Building”, and the Brand Laboratory Technology-Innovation Base of the London National Advertising Research Institute was unveiled simultaneously.
At the Intelligent Manufacturing and Sustainable Technology Development Forum, a cohort of top international experts presented frontier perspectives and industry insights. Suresh Yadav, Director of the Climate Change and Oceans Directorate at the Commonwealth Secretariat, delivered the opening address for the sub-forum. Peter Nobel, Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Sustainability Trust, envisioned a new picture of harmonious human development around sustainable technology and interpreted the future trends of artificial general intelligence and neuro-robotics. Sven-Kristian Hentz, Head of Manufacturing Integration at McLaren Automotive, drew on his professional experience to analyse the core transformation of manufacturing from traditional models towards green, low-carbon practices. Dr Lidong Lan, Founder and Chairman of ZeroG Lab, speaking on the theme “Chinese Kung Fu and China’s Commercial Aerospace” and on behalf of China’s aerospace professionals, used an idiom familiar to the international community yet rich in Eastern cultural character to explain the rapid rise and distinctive development path of China’s commercial aerospace sector, eliciting an enthusiastic response from the audience. Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Co-Director of Robotics at Imperial College London, and Helge Wudermann, Director of the Soft Haptics and Robotics Laboratory at University College London, respectively analysed the development trajectories of artificial general intelligence and robotics technology, and together with Yingxiang Gao of Shenzhou Guangda and Lining Huang of Ti5 Robotics took part in a roundtable on robotics technology and commercialisation, examining in depth the global frontier of robotics, its pathways to implementation, and the new missions of the industry.
The Technology Finance Forum focused on core topics such as cross-border technology investment and financing and the cross-national implementation of industries. Shaoqian Zhang, Founder of CBRE China; Patrick Parsons, heir to the 7th Earl of Rosse; Bing Liu, renowned investor and Global Partner of YSS; and Fabio La France, Founder of Blueverse Capital, took the stage as core guests. Shaoqian Zhang offered an in-depth analysis of the pathways to building a cross-border industrial ecosystem; Fabio La France delivered a keynote on the new landscape of cross-border development in the deep-tech industry; and Bing Liu, from an investor’s perspective, interpreted the new mission borne by China’s AI industry capital as it moves from technology going global to ecosystem co-construction.
At the same time, a Global Sci-Tech Innovation Enterprises Awards Ceremony was held, with Neil Brigden, Toni Allen, and Yu Xiong presenting awards to outstanding companies and individuals, recognizing global benchmarks in tech innovation. Beijing Zero Gravity Space Technology Co,Ltd (ZeroG Lab) won the Global Commercial Space Innovation Award for its breakthroughs in commercial space technology. Dongchao Technology received the Global Disruptive Tech Innovation Enterprise Award for its core technology of mid-air floating imaging and global layout. Zhongrui Digital Technology Co.,Ltd won the Global Agentic Technology Leader Award for its full-stack AI agent technology. Other winners included T5 Robotics (Global Sustainable Innovation Enterprise), Beijing Shenzhou Guangda Technology Co., Ltd. (SINO EVERBRILLIANT) (Global Tech Innovation Most Investment Value Award), Xunsen Metamaterial (Global Tech Innovation Business Model Award), Deng Liyun (Global Youth Innovation Leader Award), alongside awards for Argos Labs, LAAI AI Group, ROBOGO, and Suzhou Jixun Intelligent Technology. The awards showcased the robust innovation strength and vitality of global tech entities.
The summit also featured resource matchmaking sessions and a China Technology Product Exhibition, building efficient cooperation bridges between Chinese and international companies. Several domestically produced smart devices, including the Hi-Dolphin (COFE+) coffee robot, the UBTECH Wukong series robot, and the LAAI window-cleaning robot, were showcased, receiving enthusiastic feedback and praise for their strong product capabilities.
The closing dinner was held with great ceremony at the magnificent Houses of Parliament, where the founding chairman and co-chair organisations of the World Future Technology Development Summit issued the London Joint Declaration. The IPEF International Private Equity Alliance & Forum and GAiS Global AI Summit, the YSS International Youth Sustainable Innovation Summit, the Singapore Xingdao Shanmeng Business and Philanthropy Forum (AFG&BP), and the GenAI Summit Paris jointly announced their commitment to promoting the deep integration of family legacy with scientific innovation and humanistic care, and to advancing the common wellbeing of humanity. The parties will continue to deepen pragmatic international collaboration in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, intelligent manufacturing, commercial aerospace and life sciences, working together to build an open, inclusive and mutually beneficial global technology-innovation ecosystem and to empower global industries to achieve high-quality, sustainable development through technological progress. Setting out from London, the WFT global summit series will arrive successively in Beijing, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Davos and beyond.
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