China Proposes Export Controls on 40 AI, Solar and Biopharma Technologies Amid Trade Tensions

China's Ministry of Commerce published draft regulations in October 2026 proposing to add 40 technology categories to its national Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export. The proposal, which attracted wide international coverage on October 28, covers 23 entries in artificial intelligence (including large AI models, AI agents, computing clusters and information-processing architectures), 12 entries in photovoltaic manufacturing (polysilicon, silicon wafers, solar cells and related production equipment), and five entries in biomedicine (cell and gene therapies, small nucleic acid drugs and pathogenic microorganisms). Of the 40 technologies, 14 are proposed for outright prohibition and 26 for restriction. Any exporter of a listed technology must register each transaction on the Ministry of Commerce's technology-trade platform before shipment; exports already under way but not yet completed also fall under the new requirement. A public comment period runs until November 15, 2026. The move is widely interpreted as a response to Western technology-export restrictions targeting China's semiconductor and AI industries, and as an assertion of leverage over global supply chains for solar energy and advanced biotechnology—sectors where China commands a dominant production share.