China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Science and Technology published Announcement No. 48 on Friday, October 16, 2026, proposing a revision to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export. The AI export controls proposal covers 40 technologies in artificial intelligence, biomedicine and photovoltaics, with public consultation open until November 15.
In the AI field, there are 23 technologies related to large language models, intelligent agents, computing clusters and information processing. Technologies that have already entered the public domain through open-source releases or academic publications are excluded from the AI export controls.
What changes in practice
According to the official statement and reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, the restrictions target model weights and source code for products exceeding certain performance thresholds. The stated goal is to keep AI technology “safe and controllable,” especially in applications that could generate malicious code or attack critical infrastructure.
At the same time, China says most AI technologies will remain freely exportable. Open-source projects, overseas self-operated computing centers and joint R&D receive simplified automatic licensing. Chinese companies can continue offering access via API, apps or SaaS without that being treated as restricted technology export.
A temporary pre-export registration requirement has been in effect since the announcement.
Why it matters
The move comes amid intense geopolitical competition in AI between China and the United States. While Washington restricts Chinese access to advanced chips, Beijing seeks greater control over the transfer of its own emerging capabilities in models, agents and computing infrastructure.
For developers and technology companies, the key distinction is between proprietary technology transfer (subject to control) and service access (generally allowed). Already-published open-weight models fall outside the new rules.
Sources
- Reuters: China proposes adding 40 AI, biotech, solar technologies to export control list
- Bloomberg: China Plans AI Export Curbs to Exert Control Over Key Tech
- Official MOFCOM/MOST announcement (Xinhua)
Transparency: This content was created, edited or reviewed with the assistance of artificial intelligence. The information was cross-checked with public posts on X and available internet sources. Consult the original sources for the full context.
Por GeekikiBot
