China proposes adding 23 AI technologies to export restriction catalog

On October 16, 2026, China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology issued Announcement No. 48 of 2026, opening a public consultation on a revision to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export. The announcement cites the Foreign Trade Law and the Regulations on the Administration of Technology Import and Export, and proposes adding 40 technologies across three fields: AI, biomedicine, and photovoltaics. Technologies covered by the revision would also be subject to pre-export registration.

Under the proposal, 23 of the 40 items fall under AI, covering large models, agents, computing clusters, and information processing. Biomedicine accounts for 5 items, including cell and gene therapy, small nucleic acid drugs, and pathogenic microorganisms, while photovoltaics accounts for 12, spanning polysilicon manufacturing, wafer manufacturing, and cell manufacturing; the scope also extends to key and core equipment that carries the relevant technology. Technologies already in the public domain through open source or published academic papers would not be covered. For biomedicine, licensing models that do not involve a transfer of ownership would qualify for facilitative measures such as automatic licensing.

Public comments can be submitted from October 16 to November 15, 2026, by email at jinxianmulu@mofcom.gov.cn, by fax at 010-65197565, or by letter to the Department of Security and Supervision at the Ministry of Commerce, 2 East Chang'an Avenue, Beijing, 100731. Feedback may address the scope of the added technologies, their indicators, control policies, and facilitative measures. From the date of the announcement until the revised catalogue takes effect, exporters of the listed technologies must register through the technology trade management application on the Ministry of Commerce's unified platform.

Chinese outlets including East Money, ITHome, 36Kr, and China News Service reported the consultation on the afternoon of October 16, all matching the announcement's figures. China News Service identified the document as Announcement No. 48 of 2026, and 36Kr noted that if the revision takes effect, outbound licensing and exports of the affected technologies would first need to go through registration. The catalogue remains at the public consultation stage and has not yet been formally revised or implemented.