China Proposes Bans on 14 Technologies and Restrictions on 26 in Review Covering 40 Fields
Key Facts
China’s ministries of commerce and science and technology announced on October 16 the issuance of Announcement No. 48 of 2026, opening public consultations on a review of the list of technologies prohibited or restricted from export. The proposal covers 40 technologies in artificial intelligence, biomedicine and photovoltaics, including 14 proposed for an export ban and 26 proposed for restrictions. The Ministry of Commerce said the review is a regular part of technology trade management and does not target any specific country, region or entity. It said the wider use of the technologies in sensitive fields, including artificial intelligence, biomedicine and photovoltaics, was among the considerations behind the review. The proposal puts limits on the transfer of the technologies themselves at the center of the discussion, while the list remains subject to consultation before an official announcement amending it is issued.
The proposed additions span sectors beyond artificial intelligence, covering 23 technologies related to large models, intelligent agents, computing clusters and information processing. In biomedicine, the ministry proposes adding 5 technologies involving pathogenic microorganisms, cell and gene therapies, and small nucleic acid drugs. In photovoltaics, the list covers 12 technologies in the manufacture of polysilicon, silicon wafers and cells. Examples the ministry cited among technologies proposed for a ban include tools that use artificial intelligence to generate and modify malicious code, as well as specialized technologies and platforms for cell and gene therapy. The proposed ban also covers technologies for producing perovskite and tandem solar-cell modules, extending the review across multiple stages of the solar manufacturing chain.
By contrast, technologies proposed for restriction include AI-assisted vulnerability detection methods and some technologies for identifying targets for cell and gene therapies. The ministry also cited polysilicon engineering technologies with a single-line production capacity of 30,000 tons per year or more as examples of proposed restrictions. It said most of the technologies it seeks to regulate have specific technical indicators, and products manufactured using the technologies concerned are outside the scope of the proposed management. It added that equipment not listed among photovoltaic technologies is, in principle, not subject to the announcement’s requirements. These limits distinguish controls on technology transfers from the treatment of related products or equipment, according to the ministry’s explanation.
Interim measures began with the announcement’s issuance on October 16 and will remain in place until the official announcement revising the list takes effect. The measures require operators exporting specified technologies to register them in advance. Registration covers transferring ownership of a technology to an overseas entity or allowing an overseas entity to use a domestic technology. It also covers changing the owner or actual controller of a domestic technology to an overseas entity, according to the ministry. In cases of international medical cooperation, the ministry said some exports may benefit from facilitation measures such as automatic licensing, including what is needed for public health emergencies, humanitarian assistance and joint research and development using overseas resources. This means temporary registration is in place during the transition period, while the information provided did not specify when consultations would end or when the revised list would take effect.
Regarding artificial intelligence, the ministry said most AI technologies would remain freely exportable after the relevant measures take effect. It said providing external services using restricted large models through application programming interfaces, applications and websites, or software as a service does not fall within the scope of export management for large-model technologies. Whether the expansion of AI models outside China is subject to export management also depends, according to the ministry, on whether it involves transferring restricted technologies from inside China to outside the country. Technologies that have entered the public domain through open-source publication or academic papers will not be included in the scope of export management, it said. The review is part of a process the ministry says dates back to 2001, when it began reviewing the list regularly by adding and removing technologies and tightening or easing controls.
The proposal also comes as China and the United States have made progress in dialogue on AI safety and governance, and discussed establishing a mechanism to notify each other of AI incidents that could threaten national security, according to the Associated Press. The agency quoted Lian Jye Su, an analyst at Omdia, as saying the move "could be seen as a response to sovereignty requirements raised by Western countries on AI, robotics, communications and other key technologies." Su added that the aim is to regulate access to Chinese technologies. Gary Ng, chief economist at Natixis, said, "The world is seeing more fragmentation in trade and investment, as well as in access to technologies." The move remains, in Beijing’s description, a regular review not directed at any specific entity, while the final form of the restrictions will depend on the official review of the list.