China Proposes Adding 23 Key AI Technologies to Export Control List

China's Ministry of Commerce has responded to questions about a proposed revision to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export, which would add 23 key technologies related to artificial intelligence, including large models, intelligent agents, and computing clusters.

The ministry said the move aims to ensure the safe and controllable development of AI, citing risks such as AI-driven malicious code generation that could be used to attack critical information infrastructure, defense, and government systems. It stressed that necessary management of these technologies is intended to prevent abuse and keep AI under human control.

At the same time, to encourage openness and cooperation, export licensing facilitation measures such as automatic permits will apply to scenarios including open-sourcing AI technologies, overseas construction of self-operated computing centers by Chinese enterprises, overseas chip tape-out and manufacturing, joint R&D using overseas resources, and participation in international standard-setting. Technologies already in the public domain through open source or academic publication are proposed to be excluded from export controls. API calls, app/web interactions, SaaS applications, and lightweight local edge deployments are also not covered.

China said it supports dialogue and cooperation with other countries on AI governance and will provide greater convenience for technology exports related to capacity-building and international cooperation, especially for Global South nations.