Technology Author：EqualOcean News Yesterday 02:20 PM (GMT+8)

China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology published proposed additions to the country’s technology-export catalogue on October 16, covering 23 AI technologies. Accompanying guidance distinguishes transfers of restricted technology from services such as overseas API access, while a temporary registration requirement has already taken effect.

Digital economy

Announcement No. 48 of 2026 opens consultation on 40 technologies across artificial intelligence, photovoltaics and biomedicine. The proposals comprise 14 prohibited and 26 restricted items across the three sectors. The AI categories cover large models, agents, computing clusters and information processing. Public comments are invited through November 15.

Pending formal revision and implementation of the catalogue, exporters must register covered technology exports with the commerce ministry before proceeding. The requirement also covers exports already underway but not completed. Specified situations include transferring technology ownership, licensing domestic technology for overseas use and changes that place ownership or actual control of domestic technology with an overseas entity.

The ministry’s explanation draws an important distinction for model developers. Overseas localized deployment involving restricted AI technology would fall within technology-export management. Deployment on a company’s own overseas cloud may qualify for automatic licensing and other facilitation measures.

By contrast, providing overseas users with API calls, app or web interactions, SaaS applications and lightweight on-device deployment using restricted large models would fall outside large-model technology-export management. That exclusion concerns this particular regime and should not be read as a general exemption from other applicable requirements.

The proposals also distinguish technology already in the public domain from future transfers. Technologies already made public through open source or academic publication would be excluded. Activities including AI technology open-sourcing, Chinese companies’ construction and operation of overseas computing centers, overseas chip fabrication, joint research using foreign resources and participation in international standards would receive automatic licensing or other facilitation measures where applicable.

Officials described the revision as routine technology-trade management and said it targets no particular country, region or entity. They also stated that most AI technologies would remain freely exportable once the measures take effect.

For Chinese AI developers, the practical issue is therefore the technology and transaction involved, rather than overseas expansion alone. Hosted services, customer-site deployment and technology licensing may receive different treatment. The draft does not establish that joint ventures or any particular corporate structure automatically fall outside its scope.

The final catalogue, technical criteria and implementing procedures will determine the longer-term boundary. For now, companies face an immediate registration requirement for covered transfers alongside a consultation on the proposed prohibition, licensing and facilitation arrangements.

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