China Imposes Restrictions on AI and Chip Technology Exports
China is preparing to restrict the export of 40 technologies, including artificial intelligence and chips, citing competition with the US and national security reasons.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology have published a draft document outlining the ban or restriction on the export of 40 critical technologies, including artificial intelligence models, chips, and solar energy systems.
Export Move in Critical Technologies
Amid escalating technology competition with other countries, particularly the United States, China has decided to restrict or ban the export of 40 technologies covering artificial intelligence, chips, and solar energy. The draft document jointly published by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology includes planned updates to the country's export restriction catalog.
Artificial Intelligence and National Security Justification
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce stated that this step is necessary to protect national security. The statement emphasized the goals of strengthening security boundaries, preventing misuse, and ensuring that artificial intelligence remains under human control.
Areas Under Ban and Restriction
The published list includes 23 artificial intelligence technologies, ranging from advanced large models to agents. While the export of core technologies for large AI models trained on sensitive national data will be banned, models with a parameter count of 2 trillion and above may be restricted.
Chip and Solar Energy Technologies
The proposed export restrictions also cover chip design technologies for certain artificial intelligence processing chips and memory chips. Additionally, 12 solar energy technologies—including the production of polysilicon, the main raw material for the solar supply chain—and 5 biomedicine technologies have been included in the list.
Global Competition and Expert Commentary
Lian Jye Su, principal analyst at Omdia, noted that this move could be seen as a response to Western countries' demands for sovereignty over technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics. Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, stated that the world is increasingly fragmenting in terms of trade, investment, and access to technology.