China proposes export curbs on 40 technologies, including 23 AI systems

A draft list of 40 technologies

China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology published a draft on Friday, 16 October, proposing to restrict or ban exports of 40 technologies. The list is split into 23 artificial intelligence items, 12 solar power items and five biomedicine items, which include cell and gene therapies. The step comes as Beijing's technology competition with the United States and other countries sharpens. The ministries said the proposal does not target any particular country, region or entity, and described it as part of routine technology trade management. The public may comment until 15 November.

What would be restricted

Core technologies behind large AI models trained on sensitive national data would be barred from export. AI agents built for highly sensitive settings, such as national defence and critical information infrastructure, fall under the same proposal. Models with 2 trillion parameters or more, or with certain world-leading capabilities, could also face restrictions, and parameter count is described as a key measure of a model's learning capacity. Chinese models such as Moonshot's Kimi K3 and Alibaba's Qwen 3.8-Max are reported to exceed that size, though the draft itself names no model. The list also reaches chip design technology, including for some AI processors and memory chips, and covers know-how for AI chips fabricated at 14 nanometres or smaller or assembled by stacking dies in 2.5D or 3D layouts.

Open-source, apps and registration

Technology already public through open-source releases or published research would be exempt from the curbs, and the proposal allows simplified licensing for open-source exports. Access to Chinese models through programming interfaces, websites or apps stays outside the controls, a distinction that could let developers such as DeepSeek and Alibaba keep expanding abroad. Hosting a restricted model on foreign machines would be treated as an export, yet firms that run it on their own overseas cloud could qualify for an automatic licence. A temporary rule in force from Friday requires companies to register before exporting any listed item, covering transfers of technology ownership and licensing deals with overseas entities. The registration duty also reaches export transactions already underway but not yet completed.

Background and the US race

Beijing had been reported earlier this year to be weighing limits on overseas access to its top models. Beijing was also reported in July to be considering export controls on AI models and chips. On 1 July, China began applying rules that tighten controls on overseas investment and the outbound transfer of technology, data and related expertise. That followed a legal dispute over Meta's $2bn deal to buy the Chinese autonomous AI agent Manus, which Beijing blocked on national security grounds. The United States, Europe and Japan also run tech export controls that are seen mainly as aimed at China, and Washington has restricted China's access to the most advanced American AI chips. US firms Anthropic and OpenAI have held a lead, though Chinese rivals are finding ways to close the gap.

Official position

The commerce ministry framed the step around national security in its statement.

The Chinese government is implementing such necessary measures with the aims of reinforcing the security bottom line, preventing misuse and abuse, and ensuring that AI remains under human control.

According to the ministries, part of the controls is meant to block systems that can independently write malicious software capable of threatening critical infrastructure and national security. The list remains a draft, and companies and industry associations can submit their views until 15 November.