China has proposed adding 23 AI technologies to its export-control catalogue and imposed an immediate registration requirement for specified technology transfers. The draft covers large models, agents, computing clusters and information processing, while excluding technologies already in the public domain.
The Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology published the proposal on October 16. The broader package covers 40 technologies across AI, biomedicine and solar power. It would prohibit exports of 14 technologies and restrict 26; those totals span all three sectors.
The temporary registration measure applies from publication until the revised catalogue formally takes effect. It includes covered exports that have already begun but are not complete. The final additions to the catalogue remain subject to consultation.
Registration is required for overseas transfers of technology ownership, licensing domestic technology for use abroad, and changes that put ownership or actual control of domestic technology in foreign hands. The ministry can also identify other situations requiring registration.
Exporters must provide information about themselves and the recipient, the destination, the technology and its intended use, and the expected transaction value. Several technologies being transferred at once to the same recipient can be included in one submission; other transactions generally require separate filings.
The ministry’s explanation distinguishes transferring model technology from providing access to a service. Overseas local deployment of a model technology classified as restricted would fall within export management. Providing API access, app or website interaction, or software-as-a-service using such a model would not fall within the model-technology export controls.
Deployments on a company’s own overseas cloud could qualify for automatic licensing or other streamlined procedures. The ministry also describes easier procedures for releasing AI technology as open source, operating Chinese-built computing centers abroad and conducting joint research using overseas resources.
Technology already made public through open-source releases or academic papers would be outside the proposed controls. Among the technologies the ministry identifies for export prohibition is AI-driven malicious-code generation and mutation; AI-assisted vulnerability discovery is among those proposed for restriction.
The proposal follows earlier discussions about overseas access to Chinese frontier models. Separately, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for a direct AI-incident communications line with China as the countries discuss risks from advanced systems.
The ministries are accepting comments through November 15 on the proposed scope, technical indicators, controls and streamlined procedures. Submissions can be made by email, fax or post, while the temporary registration requirement remains in operation.
Sources: Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce
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By the Control Plane Editorial Team