China's First Frontier AI Export Controls: Mofcom Announcement No. 48
These regulations establish China's first export controls on frontier AI, subjecting global AI supply chains, multinational R&D, and future open-weight releases from Chinese labs to regulatory oversight alongside existing U.S. restrictions.
What happened
China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology issued Announcement No. 48, proposing new export controls on 23 AI technologies—including frontier model weights, advanced agent architectures, and AI cyber capabilities—while enforcing an immediate interim registration requirement. While overseas API access and existing open-source models remain exempt, local overseas deployments and future open-sourcing of models exceeding specific compute, parameter, or top-10 ranking thresholds will require government reporting or licensing.
Who it’s about
- Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)
- Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)
- Cloud Security Alliance
Source
More on policy
Get a brief picked for you
Sign in to follow topics and companies, save stories and search the archive.
Sign in