China's commerce and science ministries propose adding 23 AI technologies to the export prohibited and restricted technology catalogue

Key takeaways

• The catalogue additions are proposals open for comment until 15 November 2026. Interim pre-export registration is stated in the announcement to apply from 16 October 2026.
• Of 40 proposed technologies, 23 are AI, covering large models, agents, compute clusters and information processing.
• Once the catalogue is formally implemented, API, app, web, SaaS and on-device lightweight offerings of a restricted large model are stated not to be technology export. Overseas local deployment of restricted AI technology is.
• Open-source releases, Chinese enterprises' self-built, self-operated overseas compute centres and joint R&D abroad using overseas resources would get automatic-licence facilitation under the proposed regime.

What did MOFCOM and MOST propose?

On 16 October 2026 the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology issued Announcement No. 48 of 2026. Under the Foreign Trade Law and the Regulations on the Administration of Technology Import and Export, the ministries propose to revise the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export by adding AI, biomedicine and photovoltaic technologies, and they invite public comment. The announcement also applies pre-export registration to the technologies concerned from its issue date.

The announcement says the consultation covers 40 technologies in three fields: 23 in AI, 5 in biomedicine and 12 in photovoltaics. In the spokesperson Q&A, 14 of the 40 are described as proposed for prohibition and 26 for restriction. The spokesperson framed the revision as routine technology-trade management that is not aimed at any specific country, region or entity, and cited Article 20 of the Foreign Trade Law for the catalogue and Articles 18 and 20 for the interim registration. The announcement's Annex 1, which holds the technology scope and policy notes for comment, is a .wps attachment that we did not open.

The proposed additions are not yet in the catalogue. The interim registration is different: the announcement states it applies from the issue date.

Which AI technologies would be covered, and what is carved out?

The spokesperson said 23 AI technologies across large models, agents, compute clusters and information processing would be added. Two examples named on the page: AI-driven malicious code generation and mutation, proposed as prohibited, and AI-assisted vulnerability discovery, proposed as restricted. In the original: "拟禁止出口技术14项，包括：人工智能驱动的恶意代码生成与变异技术".

The page gives the reason for the malicious-code item: such technology could be used against critical information infrastructure, defence and core government systems, and could be dangerous if obtained by non-state actors.

It also lists situations where, under the proposed regime, automatic-licence facilitation would apply: open-sourcing AI technology, Chinese firms building and operating their own compute centres abroad, overseas chip tape-out, joint R&D using overseas resources, and taking part in international standard-setting. The spokesperson described this as essentially "report and go" ("即报即出"). Technology that has already entered the public domain through open source or academic papers is proposed to fall outside export management. The page adds that most AI technology would stay freely exportable once the measures take effect.

Does offering a model through an API, app or SaaS count as technology export?

The spokesperson was asked about this for the period after the catalogue is formally implemented. The stated test is whether restricted technology moves from inside China to outside China. On that test, overseas local deployment of an AI technology that falls in the restricted category is within technology export management, and where it runs on the company's own overseas cloud, automatic-licence facilitation may apply.

The spokesperson said service-style offerings are different. When a company uses a restricted large model to provide API calls, app or web interaction, SaaS applications or on-device lightweight deployment, that is outside large-model technology export management: "不属于大模型技术出口管理范围". The answer is framed around how the Catalogue would operate once formally implemented, so it describes the intended reading and not a ruling on a specific product, and it does not expressly say how API, SaaS or similar offerings are treated during the interim registration period, which we treat as unresolved.

What does interim pre-export registration involve?

The announcement states that, from its issue date until the revised Catalogue is formally revised and implemented, technology export operators are to register on the technology trade management application of the MOFCOM business system (ecomp.mofcom.gov.cn) before exporting the technologies listed in the announcement. Exports that have started but are not complete fall within the registration. The spokesperson added that operators are to judge for themselves whether a planned export falls within the interim scope, and that the measure was adopted with approval.

The registration situations named are: transferring ownership of technology abroad, such as an IP assignment; licensing domestic technology for use abroad; a change of the technology owner or actual controller to a foreign party; and other situations MOFCOM specifies by notice. Registered information mainly covers the exporter and recipient, the destination country or region, the technology and its use, and the expected export value, per the form in Annex 2, which we did not open. Several technologies exported in one transaction to the same recipient may be combined on one form; other situations should in principle be filled in on separate forms. Companies with registration difficulties can consult MOFCOM and MOST. The announcement and Q&A do not say what happens to an export that is not registered, and we do not assume a penalty.

What are the key dates, and what should model providers and export counsel do now?

Read Annex 1 and Annex 2 of the announcement before relying on any summary, because the technology list sits there.

• List China-origin AI technology you transfer, license for overseas use or plan to move to a foreign owner, and compare it with the 23 AI items in Annex 1.
• Separate technology transfer from service delivery. Per the spokesperson, once the catalogue is formally implemented, API, app, SaaS and on-device lightweight offerings using a restricted large model are outside large-model technology export management, while overseas local deployment of restricted AI technology is inside.
• For open-source releases, joint R&D abroad and Chinese-built, self-operated overseas compute centres, check the automatic-licence situations the page lists, which are part of the proposed regime and not yet in force.
• Decide whether to submit comments by 15 November 2026. Comments are invited on the new technology scope, indicators, control policy and facilitation measures, and organisations are to stamp their submission with the unit seal.

What we did not verify

What we opened: the text of Announcement No. 48 of 2026 and the MOFCOM spokesperson question-and-answer page, both stamped 16 October 2026 16:00, on 25 October 2026 (UTC). Every figure and quotation above comes from those two pages.

What we did not open: Annex 1 (the proposed technology scope, a .wps file), Annex 2 (the registration form), the Foreign Trade Law and the Regulations on the Administration of Technology Import and Export, and the registration system itself. We cannot confirm the technical indicators that define each of the 23 AI items, the penalty for failing to register, or the date the revised Catalogue takes effect.

What we refuse to claim: that the catalogue additions are final or in force, that API or SaaS offerings are never covered under any circumstances, that the registration duty carries any particular sanction, or that any company is affected beyond what the pages state. Our reading of the registration duty as operative is ours, not MOFCOM's wording.

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