China says it will curb tech exports, including AI, citing national security risks

China has proposed restricting or banning exports of 40 technologies. They include advanced artificial intelligence, chip design, solar power, and biomedicine. The proposal updates China’s catalog of technologies subject to export bans or restrictions. It matters because technology exports can spread capabilities that governments consider strategically sensitive.

The AI section covers 23 technologies. China would prohibit exports of core technologies for large models trained on sensitive national data. It could restrict models with at least 2 trillion parameters or certain world-leading capabilities. It also targets AI agents designed for national defense or critical information infrastructure. Chip-design technologies include some AI-processing and memory chips.

The proposal also covers 12 solar technologies, including polysilicon production, and five biomedical technologies involving cell and gene therapy. China’s commerce ministry says the measures would reinforce security, prevent misuse and abuse, and keep AI under human control. The draft still requires the proposed updates to move forward.

An export control is a government rule that limits the sale, transfer, or shipment of a technology to foreign buyers. Controls can require licenses, restrict certain destinations, or apply only to sensitive users or uses. They are tools for managing security, trade, and technology access. The article describes China’s proposed catalog as containing both export bans and export restrictions.

A complete export ban is the strictest form of control. It blocks exports of a specified technology, rather than allowing them under conditions. China’s proposal would prohibit exports of core technologies for AI large models trained with sensitive national data. Other technologies could face narrower restrictions instead, such as limits on models with at least 2 trillion parameters or world-leading capabilities.

The distinction matters because restricted technologies may still reach approved partners or users after government review. Banned technologies cannot legally be exported under the stated rule. China’s draft does not yet identify specific AI models, so its final controls could define the boundaries more precisely.

China’s draft list contains 40 technologies. It spans several sectors that are central to modern industry and national strategy: artificial intelligence, semiconductors, solar power, and biomedicine. The scale shows that the proposal is not limited to one product or one company. It would update the national catalog governing technology export bans and restrictions.

Artificial intelligence accounts for 23 listed technologies, including advanced large models and AI agents. Twelve technologies relate to solar power, including methods for making polysilicon, a key solar-supply material. Five concern biomedicine, including cell and gene therapy. The proposal also includes several chip-design technologies for some AI-processing chips and memory chips.

These figures describe the sectors and technologies named in the draft, not a final enforcement list. China’s ministries published the document as a proposal. The commerce ministry said the measures were necessary and connected them partly to national security. The final scope could therefore depend on how the draft is adopted and implemented.

China’s stated concern is national security. Its commerce ministry says the measures would reinforce a security bottom line, prevent misuse and abuse, and ensure that AI remains under human control. The proposed rules therefore focus on technologies that could affect defense, infrastructure, industrial capacity, or control of sensitive information.

The clearest examples are AI systems trained on sensitive national data and AI agents designed for national defense or critical information infrastructure. China would prohibit exports of core technologies behind the first group. It could restrict very large or world-leading models. Chip designs enable AI-processing and memory hardware, while polysilicon supports the solar supply chain. These links make access to key capabilities strategically important.

The article does not give a separate, detailed risk explanation for every chip or solar technology. It reports that China wants better control over access to Chinese technologies. Analyst Lian Jye Su viewed the move as a response to sovereignty requirements in AI, robotics, telecommunications, and other key fields.

China’s proposed controls could make it harder for foreign companies and governments to obtain certain Chinese technologies. The affected fields include AI, chip design, solar manufacturing, and biomedicine. That matters because companies often depend on international suppliers, and restrictions can change who may buy, sell, or use strategically important tools.

For example, China could prohibit exports of core technologies for AI models trained on sensitive national data. It could also restrict very large models, some chip designs, polysilicon-making technologies, and cell or gene therapy technologies. These rules would regulate access to Chinese capabilities, rather than simply affecting one finished product. Buyers might need approval, or could be excluded altogether if a technology were banned.

The article does not quantify the economic impact or identify affected countries. It reports that analyst Lian Jye Su sees the move as better regulation of access to Chinese technologies. Economist Gary Ng said trade, investment, and technology access are becoming more fragmented. Further controls could reinforce that trend.

China’s planned controls fit into an intensifying technology race involving the United States and other countries. The article says U.S.-led restrictions have already limited China’s access to the world’s most advanced AI chips and the machines used to make them. China’s proposal would add restrictions on selected technologies developed or supplied by China.

The comparison is especially clear in AI and semiconductors. China may ban core technologies for models trained on sensitive national data and restrict some extremely large models. It also proposes controls on chip-design technologies. In June, the U.S. Commerce Department asked Paradox to bar foreign nationals from using two powerful models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns. Those restrictions were later lifted.

At the same time, China and the United States made progress on AI safety and governance talks. They discussed a notification mechanism for AI incidents that could threaten national security. The competing controls show cooperation and rivalry happening simultaneously, while technology access becomes more fragmented.

AI model parameters are adjustable values learned during training. Together, they help a model recognize patterns and generate outputs. A parameter count is therefore a rough measure of a model’s learning capacity. The article uses parameter count as one possible threshold for export controls, while noting that capability also matters.

China’s proposal could restrict AI models with 2 trillion or more parameters, or models with certain world-leading abilities. The article names Chinese models including Moonshot’s Nyaya K3 and Alibaba’s Nyaya as exceeding 2 trillion parameters, but it does not name any model as specifically targeted. Larger models generally require more computation and memory, so advanced chips help train and operate them.

The article says China also proposes restrictions on some AI-processing and memory-chip design technologies. Those chips perform calculations and hold the data needed during model training and use. The source does not explain chip architecture in detail, but it connects model scale and chip technology within the wider national-security competition.