The Ministry of Commerce of China announced on its official website on October 16 that it, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology, intends to revise the "Catalogue of Chinese Technologies Prohibited or Restricted for Export," adding specific technologies in artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, and photovoltaics. After approval, public consultation will be conducted from the date of announcement until November 15, while simultaneously implementing pre-export registration management for relevant technologies.
This move is measured and strategically significant. The revision is not merely a routine update of technical listings but marks China’s shift from reactive defense to proactive technological containment within the context of global technological competition. It avoids blanket restrictions, instead adopting a tiered, categorized approach with targeted precision. For instance, 23 AI-related items cover large-scale models, intelligent agents, computing clusters, and information processing. Five biopharmaceutical entries include cell and gene therapies, small nucleic acid drugs, and pathogenic microorganisms. Twelve photovoltaic technologies span the entire value chain—from polycrystalline silicon production and wafer manufacturing to solar cell fabrication—and include critical core equipment essential to these processes.
The regulatory mechanism targets technology ownership transfers, licensing for overseas use, and changes in actual control to foreign entities, rather than affecting product exports. Over recent years, the United States has imposed constraints through semiconductor controls, EDA tools, and AI computing limitations; the European Union has erected barriers via critical raw materials legislation and carbon border adjustments; Japan has restricted exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
By including truly globally competitive technologies—such as large AI models, perovskite photovoltaics, and cell and gene therapies—within export control frameworks, China effectively signals: if you can regulate high-end chips, we too can safeguard our own strategic technologies. Moreover, the interim registration system took effect immediately upon the announcement on October 16, remaining in place until the final revisions are formally implemented. This ensures that any attempts to transfer technology during the transitional period will be recorded in the registration system.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1879199352812608/
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