Xinhua Shao | Chief Engineer
China Telecom Corporation

Shao Xinhua currently serves as Group Chief Engineer of China Telecom Corporation Limited and Chair of the Telecom Operation Support & Business Platform Technology and Application Panel under the China Telecom Group Science and Technology Committee. He is a Senior Engineer and holds a Master of Business Administration from Peking University. His previous roles include General Manager of the Cloud & Network Operations Department, with concurrent responsibilities as Director of the Group Data Development Center and Director of the Cloud & Network Operating System R&D Center. He also held positions as General Manager of China Telecom Emergency Communications Co., Ltd. and Deputy Group Chief Engineer.

Mr. Shao Xinhua is a globally recognized leading authority on the intelligent transformation of cloud-network operations within the information and communications technology sector. In technology development, he spearheaded the construction of the cloud-network operating system and pioneered the top-level design of the “Four-Layer, Four-Closed-Loop” framework for autonomous cloud-network operations. He redefined a five-layer architecture for AI-Native cloud-network operations alongside a six-stage maturity evolution framework. Under his leadership, China Telecom became the first operator worldwide to achieve Level 4 (L4) advanced autonomous cloud-network capabilities, and is advancing rapidly toward full autonomous operations. 

In international standardization and industry advancement, he led the development of the international AITOM series standards for intelligent operations architecture. His AIOps practice was awarded the TM Forum Catalyst Best-in-Class Award and the First Prize of China Telecom Group Science and Technology Progress Award. He also led the development of an SDN intelligent collaborative controller system for large-scale carrier-grade networks, which won the top-ranked Best Case Award from the SDN/NFV Industry Alliance and the Outstanding Contribution Award under Phase I of the Central SOE Key Project Initiative. 

For ecosystem development, he took the lead in establishing the Kunlun Ecosystem Alliance for cloud-network operating systems. The alliance seeks to consolidate industry resources to advance open-source co-construction and ecosystem prosperity for cloud-network operating systems, accelerating the independent controllability and commercial rollout of core technologies. He also facilitated the launch of a Joint Center of Excellence between China Telecom and TM Forum, the world’s premier telecom industry association. Unveiled at the TM Forum DTW25 Ignite Summit, the center draws global expertise to accelerate digital technology innovation and commercial adoption, serving as a key bridge connecting China’s digital ecosystem with international counterparts. 

In artificial intelligence, he oversees the development and large-scale implementation of China Telecom’s Network Large Model. In 2023, the world’s first large model tailored for the ICT industry was launched under his stewardship. This model has won consecutive TM Forum Excellence Awards in 2025 and 2026, claimed the 2024 ITU-T Best Industry Impact Award, and repeatedly earned outstanding AI for Network case honors. In 2025 at MWC Shanghai, he founded the world’s first Network Large Model Alliance, with 13 global carriers as founding members. In 2026, he delivered a keynote address at MWC Barcelona, systematically elaborating the strategic path and practical achievements of evolution from AI-enabled to AI-Native systems, garnering widespread global industry attention. 

In the same year, China Telecom’s Network Large Model ranked top 3 globally and No.1 in China in the GSMA Open Telco benchmark assessment. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), China Telecom released flagship AI-Native offerings including the cloud-network digital twin and TeleLLM 4.0, continuing to drive intelligent transformation across the global telecommunications industry.