China proposes adding 40 AI, biotech, solar technologies to export control list

BEIJING, Oct 16 (Reuters) - China has proposed adding 40 technologies across the ‌artificial intelligence, biomedicine and photovoltaic ‌sectors to its catalogue of technologies prohibited or ​restricted from export, the commerce ministry announced on Friday.

Public opinions are now being sought on the proposed revision until November ‌15 and ⁠China is simultaneously implementing interim pre-export registration management for the relevant ⁠technologies.

Those included in the proposed revision are AI models, intelligent agents and ​computing clusters, ​which are the ​three fundamental building ‌blocks of China's AI industry, at a time of increasing competition and geopolitical tensions with the United States over the technology's frontier development.

In a separate statement, ‌the ministry said the ​revision was proposed ​as applications of ​related technologies in sensitive ‌fields are constantly expanding and ​that the ​move was routine and does not target any specific country, region ​or entity.

(Reporting ‌by Shi Bu, Liz Lee and ​Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Alison Williams ​and Philippa Fletcher)