China proposes export curbs on 40 AI, solar and biotech technologies

If a Chinese lab wanted to sell the core files of a top-tier AI model abroad, it would now have to tell Beijing first. That duty began on Friday, 16 October 2026, when China’s commerce and science ministries proposed new China AI export controls. The draft adds 40 AI, solar and biomedicine technologies to China’s list of banned or restricted technology exports.

It does not stop finished products, apps or open-source code. It targets something quieter: the model files, blueprints and factory recipes that let others build what Chinese firms build. Frontier AI could now join rare-earth and battery know-how on that list.

What China’s new AI export controls list covers

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Science and Technology published the draft for public comment. It updates China’s export catalogue, revised often since 2001. Of the 40 new items, 23 are AI, 5 are biomedicine and 12 are solar. Fourteen would be banned outright, and 26 would need a licence.

On the AI side, the ban covers AI tools that write or mutate malicious code to attack critical systems, and models trained on what China’s data law calls “core data”. A licence would be needed to export the core of any large model: its weights (the trained numbers that make it work), source code or design. This applies to models trained with 10²⁶ or more computing operations, with 2 trillion or more parameters, or ranked in the global top 10 of public rankings.

Know-how for powerful AI agents, for computing clusters of over 10,000 AI chips and for AI chip design, including designs that join or stack chip parts (2.5D or 3D packaging), would also need a licence.

Production know-how for perovskite and tandem solar modules, a next-generation panel type, would be banned. Large polysilicon lines and several high-efficiency cell processes would need a licence.

In biomedicine, selling core gene and cell therapy platforms abroad would be banned.

Know-how is covered, finished products are not

China’s solar export controls target recipes, not panels. The ministry says products made with these technologies are outside the rules. AI technology already public through open source or published papers is excluded. And offering a model through an API (a way for other software to call it), an app, a website or online software services is “not within the scope”. Installing a restricted model on servers abroad is covered.

The ministry says the update does not target “any specific country, region or entity”, and that “the vast majority” of AI technology can still be exported freely.

Outside voices see a world of tech walls

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, told AP the move can be seen as a response to Western sovereignty rules on AI and other key technologies. “The world is getting more fragmented in trade and investment, but also in access to technologies,” Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, told AP.

Since 2023, China’s export controls on rare earths and other minerals have mostly stopped goods, such as metals and magnets, leaving the country. This list stops know-how, as the 2023 rare-earth processing ban and the 2025 battery-tech rules did. Much is still unclear: when final rules arrive, how “core data” is defined, and whether open-weight model releases count as public.

If you use DeepSeek or buy solar panels, little changes today

If you use a Chinese AI app or API, such as DeepSeek or Alibaba’s Qwen, nothing changes under this draft. Reuters notes the carve-out could let those firms keep growing abroad. Solar panels you buy are not affected either.

Companies are a different story. Anyone exporting a listed technology must register with MOFCOM from now on, including deals already under way. Exporters must judge for themselves whether they are covered. pv magazine warns that solar factory projects abroad could face delays and higher compliance costs. Drug firms can still license Chinese biotech; the ban covers only outright sales.

Narrow on paper, but the fine print will decide the cost

There is a fair case for calm. The list is detailed and follows a familiar draft-then-final process.

The costs are real too. Foreign partners likely face months of uncertainty, and key terms could be read narrowly or widely. In our reading, the chip design item looks broad: one trigger is any design that can do floating-point or integer maths, which nearly every processor does. On balance, this looks more like careful gatekeeping than a wall, but each new list nudges the world towards separate technology blocs.

The comment window closes on 15 November 2026, and no date is set for the final rules. Watch whether the final China AI export controls keep the app carve-out and narrow the chip design item. That will show whether this is a gate or a wall.