China has proposed adding 40 technologies to its catalogue of items prohibited or restricted from export, including 23 involving artificial intelligence. The draft would give Beijing greater oversight of transfers involving advanced models, AI agents, computing clusters and semiconductor design while leaving most ordinary software services outside the new regime.

The Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology opened a public consultation on October 16 and imposed a temporary registration requirement for exports involving the listed technologies. The ministries’ joint announcement says comments will be accepted through November 15. Because the catalogue changes remain a draft, the final scope and licensing details could change after consultation.

What the proposal covers

The proposal spans artificial intelligence, biomedicine and photovoltaic manufacturing. AI accounts for 23 of the 40 technologies under review, according to the ministries. The listed areas include large-model development, agents designed for sensitive applications, chip design methods, advanced packaging and high-performance computing clusters.

Some technologies would be prohibited from export, while others would require licensing. That distinction is important: a restricted classification does not amount to a total ban, but it allows the government to review a transaction, impose conditions or deny a license. Reuters reported that the AI portion includes models, agents and computing systems that Beijing views as increasingly important to national security and strategic competition.

The draft also reaches technical know-how associated with semiconductor design and production. That can include transfers that occur through licensing, engineering assistance, overseas research collaboration or a corporate acquisition rather than the physical shipment of a chip. Such rules therefore matter to multinational companies seeking Chinese intellectual property, engineering talent or model technology even when no finished hardware crosses a border.

Important limits and exceptions

China’s Commerce Ministry said the proposal is targeted rather than universal. In an official question-and-answer statement, it said the vast majority of AI technologies would remain freely exportable after the revised catalogue takes effect.

The ministry drew a line between transferring controlled technology and providing access to a service. It said overseas deployment of a restricted large model could fall within export administration when the underlying technology moves outside China. By contrast, offering access through an application programming interface, software-as-a-service product, website or lightweight local application generally would not count as a transfer of the model technology itself.

The statement also described facilitation measures for lower-risk arrangements. Deployment on a company’s own overseas cloud infrastructure, some joint research projects and certain international capacity-building efforts could qualify for automatic or simplified licensing. Technology already publicly available through ordinary open-source publication would generally be treated differently from proprietary technology, although the precise thresholds in the draft still require careful review.

Those distinctions seek to preserve overseas business for Chinese AI developers while preventing foreign buyers from acquiring the core knowledge needed to reproduce strategically significant systems. They also reduce the likelihood that every foreign user of a Chinese chatbot or enterprise tool would trigger an export-license process.

A broader technology-control contest

The proposal arrives after years of expanding U.S. restrictions on advanced chips and semiconductor equipment sold to China. Washington argues those controls are necessary to limit military and intelligence uses of cutting-edge computing. Beijing has criticized the measures as an effort to contain Chinese development and has built its own set of controls covering strategically important materials and technologies.

The new draft would extend that approach beyond commodities and hardware. The Associated Press reported that the catalogue would cover advanced AI, solar and biomedical know-how, reflecting Beijing’s concern that technology can leave the country through investment and personnel movements as well as conventional trade.

China has revised its technology-export catalogue before. The Ministry of Science and Technology published the 2023 catalogue as the legal baseline for prohibited and restricted transfers. The current consultation would add new fields and update the mechanism as AI systems have become more capable, more commercially valuable and more closely tied to chip supply.

Independent accounts suggest the measure also responds to fast-moving commercial deals. The Financial Times reported that Chinese officials were seeking to close gaps that could allow key AI or chip technologies to leave through acquisitions or employee transfers. The newspaper noted that the proposal distinguishes widely available open-weight systems from frontier technology that officials consider sensitive.

What companies should watch

Companies will need to determine whether an overseas arrangement transfers controlled technical knowledge or merely supplies a product or service. That analysis may be especially difficult for cloud deployments, model fine-tuning, chip tape-out work, joint laboratories and cross-border engineering teams. Firms may also need internal records showing where code, model weights, design files and training methods are stored and who can access them.

The temporary registration requirement means businesses cannot simply wait for the final catalogue before preparing. Exporters dealing in the covered areas must identify relevant transactions now and assess whether notice to authorities is required. At the same time, the consultation period gives industry participants an opportunity to argue that definitions are too broad, thresholds are impractical or licensing pathways need clearer deadlines.

The final rules will reveal how Beijing balances two competing goals: protecting technology it regards as strategically important and supporting Chinese companies that want to sell AI systems globally. The draft signals tighter control over the deepest layers of advanced technology, but its service exceptions show that China does not intend to close the door on ordinary international use of Chinese AI products.