China intends to ban or restrict the export of 40 advanced technologies, including the largest models of artificial intelligence, chip development tools and biomedical solutions. Even the technologies of creating AI, capable of independently searching for vulnerabilities and writing malicious code, will come under control.
The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China on October 16 published a draft updated catalog of technologies prohibited or restricted to export. Of the 40 new positions, the agencies propose to completely prohibit the transfer of 14 technologies and to introduce a permit for the remaining 26. There are 23 areas for artificial intelligence, 12 are associated with solar energy and 5 with biomedicine.
Although the final restrictions have not yet been approved, Beijing has already introduced temporary rules. Since October 16, Chinese companies are obliged to register the export of technologies from the proposed list before transferring to foreign partners. The requirement applies to the sale of intellectual property, licensing of developments and transfer of control over the technology to the foreign owner. You will even have to register transactions that have already begun, but have not yet ended.
The authorities paid special attention to large language models. It is proposed to prohibit the export of basic AI technologies trained on sensitive government data, as well as to limit the transfer of the most powerful systems. Individual requirements will affect models with the number of parameters from 2 trillion and development, which have reached a particularly high level of opportunities. The parameters are the internal numerical settings of the neural network, which are formed during training.
The new rules could potentially be brought to the new ones by the largest Chinese developers, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI. Both companies create large-scale families of language models and actively develop international products. However, having a large neural network does not in itself mean an automatic ban on its distribution. The regulator will take into account the characteristics of the system, the origin of the training data and the way the technology is transferred to the foreign recipient.
A separate block is dedicated to AI agents who are able not only to answer questions, but to plan and interact with programs on their own. China proposes to control the technologies of agent systems designed for defense, critical information infrastructure and other sensitive areas. Developments that allow artificial intelligence to create and modify malicious programs can also be banned.
Cybersecurity is directly affected. The authorities propose to limit the export of technologies that use AI for automated vulnerability search. Such tools can help specialists detect errors in the software, but can also serve to prepare attacks. Chinese officials fear that the transfer of the most powerful systems to attackers would pose a threat to state networks, defence facilities and critical services.
The new requirements do not mean that Chinese neural networks will disappear from foreign services. In the official explanations, the authorities specified that the provision of access to models through APIs, sites, mobile applications and cloud services is not considered to be the export of the technology itself. Foreign deployment of limited models, on the other hand, may require permission, although for the company's own cloud sites there is a simplified order.
Beijing also intends to preserve opportunities for international cooperation and open development. Technologies that have already become publicly available thanks to publications of scientific works or open source code are supposed to be out of control. Simplified licensing is provided for separate joint research, foreign computing centers of Chinese companies and the manufacture of chips at foreign production sites.
In addition to artificial intelligence, the revision of the catalogue will affect the semiconductor industry. The controlled areas include separate technologies for the design of chips, memory and computing complexes. The restrictions are focused primarily on the transfer of technological solutions and production knowledge, rather than on the usual sales of finished electronics. The Chinese authorities stress that products manufactured with the use of controlled technologies are in most cases not subject to the proposed rules.
Solar power has become another major area of revision. The authorities propose to control the production of polycrain, silicon plates and solar cells, including separate equipment that directly embodies the protected production processes. In particular, the permit is provided for the technologies of creation of production lines of polysilicon with a capacity of not less than 30 thousand tons per year.
The biomedical part of the list includes cellular and gene therapy, drugs based on short nucleic acids and technologies for working with pathogenic microorganisms. For some developments, the authorities propose a total ban on transfer abroad. At the same time, the document provides for exceptions and simplified procedures for international research, humanitarian assistance and certain types of licensing.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce explains the initiative to protect national security and prevent the dangerous spread of technology. The agency separately emphasizes that the new rules are not directed against a particular country or company. According to Chinese officials, the most sensitive developments of artificial intelligence can be used to circumvent protective mechanisms and attacks on critical infrastructure.
The proposals came amid years of technological constraints between China and the US. Washington is holding back supplies of advanced boosters for AI training and chip production equipment, while Beijing has consistently expanded control over its own strategic developments. Now the object of export regulation is not only materials and production processes, but also technologies for the creation of the most powerful neural networks.
The discussion of the new restrictions will last until November 15, 2026. After examining the proposals, the authorities will be able to change the list and approve the final rules. Prior to the adoption of the updated catalog, mandatory pre-registration of the affected export operations is valid. For Chinese technology companies and foreign partners, the main question remains what development will require permission and how freely developers will be able to transfer their technologies abroad.
The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China on October 16 published a draft updated catalog of technologies prohibited or restricted to export. Of the 40 new positions, the agencies propose to completely prohibit the transfer of 14 technologies and to introduce a permit for the remaining 26. There are 23 areas for artificial intelligence, 12 are associated with solar energy and 5 with biomedicine.
Although the final restrictions have not yet been approved, Beijing has already introduced temporary rules. Since October 16, Chinese companies are obliged to register the export of technologies from the proposed list before transferring to foreign partners. The requirement applies to the sale of intellectual property, licensing of developments and transfer of control over the technology to the foreign owner. You will even have to register transactions that have already begun, but have not yet ended.
The authorities paid special attention to large language models. It is proposed to prohibit the export of basic AI technologies trained on sensitive government data, as well as to limit the transfer of the most powerful systems. Individual requirements will affect models with the number of parameters from 2 trillion and development, which have reached a particularly high level of opportunities. The parameters are the internal numerical settings of the neural network, which are formed during training.
The new rules could potentially be brought to the new ones by the largest Chinese developers, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI. Both companies create large-scale families of language models and actively develop international products. However, having a large neural network does not in itself mean an automatic ban on its distribution. The regulator will take into account the characteristics of the system, the origin of the training data and the way the technology is transferred to the foreign recipient.
A separate block is dedicated to AI agents who are able not only to answer questions, but to plan and interact with programs on their own. China proposes to control the technologies of agent systems designed for defense, critical information infrastructure and other sensitive areas. Developments that allow artificial intelligence to create and modify malicious programs can also be banned.
Cybersecurity is directly affected. The authorities propose to limit the export of technologies that use AI for automated vulnerability search. Such tools can help specialists detect errors in the software, but can also serve to prepare attacks. Chinese officials fear that the transfer of the most powerful systems to attackers would pose a threat to state networks, defence facilities and critical services.
The new requirements do not mean that Chinese neural networks will disappear from foreign services. In the official explanations, the authorities specified that the provision of access to models through APIs, sites, mobile applications and cloud services is not considered to be the export of the technology itself. Foreign deployment of limited models, on the other hand, may require permission, although for the company's own cloud sites there is a simplified order.
Beijing also intends to preserve opportunities for international cooperation and open development. Technologies that have already become publicly available thanks to publications of scientific works or open source code are supposed to be out of control. Simplified licensing is provided for separate joint research, foreign computing centers of Chinese companies and the manufacture of chips at foreign production sites.
In addition to artificial intelligence, the revision of the catalogue will affect the semiconductor industry. The controlled areas include separate technologies for the design of chips, memory and computing complexes. The restrictions are focused primarily on the transfer of technological solutions and production knowledge, rather than on the usual sales of finished electronics. The Chinese authorities stress that products manufactured with the use of controlled technologies are in most cases not subject to the proposed rules.
Solar power has become another major area of revision. The authorities propose to control the production of polycrain, silicon plates and solar cells, including separate equipment that directly embodies the protected production processes. In particular, the permit is provided for the technologies of creation of production lines of polysilicon with a capacity of not less than 30 thousand tons per year.
The biomedical part of the list includes cellular and gene therapy, drugs based on short nucleic acids and technologies for working with pathogenic microorganisms. For some developments, the authorities propose a total ban on transfer abroad. At the same time, the document provides for exceptions and simplified procedures for international research, humanitarian assistance and certain types of licensing.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce explains the initiative to protect national security and prevent the dangerous spread of technology. The agency separately emphasizes that the new rules are not directed against a particular country or company. According to Chinese officials, the most sensitive developments of artificial intelligence can be used to circumvent protective mechanisms and attacks on critical infrastructure.
The proposals came amid years of technological constraints between China and the US. Washington is holding back supplies of advanced boosters for AI training and chip production equipment, while Beijing has consistently expanded control over its own strategic developments. Now the object of export regulation is not only materials and production processes, but also technologies for the creation of the most powerful neural networks.
The discussion of the new restrictions will last until November 15, 2026. After examining the proposals, the authorities will be able to change the list and approve the final rules. Prior to the adoption of the updated catalog, mandatory pre-registration of the affected export operations is valid. For Chinese technology companies and foreign partners, the main question remains what development will require permission and how freely developers will be able to transfer their technologies abroad.
