China Sets Temporary Registration for 40 Technologies Before Export

China is requiring temporary registration before exporters ship 40 technologies listed in an interim notice, as it considers catalog revisions that would define the reach of artificial-intelligence controls.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) opened public comment Oct. 16 on draft changes to China’s Catalog of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted From Export. The comment period runs through Nov. 15.

The draft identifies 23 AI technologies involving large models, agents, computing clusters and information processing. The temporary registration announcement’s annex lists 40 proposed technologies across AI, biomedicine and photovoltaics. Exporters must register those 40 technologies before export until the revised catalog formally takes effect.

Under the proposal, technology already made public through open-source releases or academic papers would be excluded from management. After the proposed measures take effect, API access, app and website interactions, SaaS and lightweight edge deployments using restricted large models would fall outside large-model technology export management. The proposal distinguishes those channels from overseas local deployment, which would fall within scope under the proposed measures for restricted AI technologies after they take effect.

Automatic licensing would be available in some cases, including deployment on a company’s own overseas cloud. Most AI technologies would remain eligible for free export under the proposal.