# China drafts sweeping export restrictions spanning AI, chips and solar technology > A draft proposal covering roughly 40 technologies would curb exports of advanced AI models, chip-design tools and solar manufacturing know-how, citing national security concerns. - Source: Pacific Post - Canonical URL: https://pacificpost.co.uk/article/china-draft-export-restrictions-ai-chips-solar - Author: Pacific Post Staff - Section: Technology - Published: 2026-10-17T21:10:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-17T21:10:00.000Z - Tags: China, export controls, AI, semiconductors --- China has drafted a proposal to restrict exports across roughly 40 technologies spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductors and solar power manufacturing, a move that would extend Beijing's own export-control regime well beyond the handful of sectors it has targeted so far. The draft covers 23 AI-related technologies, including advanced large language models and AI agents, alongside multiple chip-design technologies used in AI processors and memory, 12 technologies tied to polysilicon production for solar panels, and five biomedicine technologies covering cell and gene therapy. On the AI side, the proposal would bar exporting models trained on sensitive national data and prohibit AI agents built for defense or critical infrastructure applications, with potential restrictions also floated for general-purpose models above roughly two trillion parameters, a threshold that would reportedly bring Chinese systems such as Moonshot's Kimi K3 and Alibaba's Qwen 3.8-Max into scope. Officials have framed the restrictions around national security, specifically the goal of preventing misuse of advanced AI systems and preserving human control over them, language that echoes the kind of safety rationale Western governments have used to justify their own export limits on sensitive technology. The proposal lands against a backdrop of years of US restrictions limiting China's access to advanced AI chips, restrictions that have pushed Chinese firms to develop more of their own domestic capability even as they remain constrained by hardware access. Beijing's move to draft its own outbound controls suggests China is increasingly willing to use the same export-control playbook in reverse, restricting outward flows of its own advanced technology rather than only responding to restrictions placed on it. The timing is notable, arriving as US and Chinese officials continue separate dialogues on AI safety and incident notification. Whether China's draft restrictions complicate or run parallel to that diplomatic track remains to be seen, but the scope of technologies covered, spanning AI, chips, solar manufacturing and biomedicine, signals a broader and more systematic approach to technology control than Beijing has pursued before. --- Originally published by Pacific Post. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://pacificpost.co.uk/article/china-draft-export-restrictions-ai-chips-solar.