AI Tracker
Mainland China

AI data use is governed by China’s core data laws and sectoral standards:

• The Cybersecurity Law《网络安全法》, issued in June 2016, mandates that network operators, including those providing generative AI services, comply with cybersecurity obligations to manage risks.
• The Data Security Law《数据安全法》, enacted in September 2021, regulates data processing activities, emphasizing data classification, risk assessment, and the protection of data security, which is crucial for AI technologies that rely on large datasets.
• The Personal Information Protection Law《个人信息保护法》, enacted in August 2021, regulates personal information processing activities, requiring that the collection of personal information should be limited to the minimum scope and the processing of personal information should have a clear and necessary purpose using methods that have the least impact on personal rights and interests.

While there are no specific regulations solely for AI data, it is addressed in various regulations. For example:

• the Regulation on Network Data Security Management 《网络数据安全管理条例》, introduced in January 2024, specifically requires that a network data handler providing generative AI services shall strengthen its security management of training data and training data handling activities and take effective measures to prevent and dispose of network data security risks.
• the Measures for the Security Management of the Application of Facial Recognition Technology 《人脸识别技术应用安全管理办法》,issued in March 2025, specifies that the use of facial recognition technology should implement protective measures for personal information, including consent if the legal basis for the collection of data is consent, and informing individuals on the purpose, needs and methods for handling personal information.

In addition, the TC260 issued a series of national standards, providing specifications and guidance for the application of AI technology including:

• Information security technology—General requirements for biometric information protection《信息安全技术 生物特征识别信息保护基本要求》
• Information Security Technology - Security Requirements for Facial Recognition Data《信息安全技术 人脸识别数据安全要求》
• Information Security Technology - Security Requirements for Automotive Data Processing《信息安全技术 汽车数据处理安全要求》
• Cybersecurity Technology - Security Specifications for Data Annotation in Generative Artificial Intelligence《网络安全技术 生成式人工智能数据标注安全规范》
• Cybersecurity Technology-Labelling methods for content generated by artificial intelligence 《网络安全技术 人工智能生成合成内容标识方法》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Emergency Response Guide for Generative Artificial Intelligence Services 《《网络安全标准实践指南——生成式人工智能服务安全应急响应指南》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Identification Methods for AI-Generated Content: File Metadata Implicit Identification – Video Files《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容标识方法 文件元数据隐式标识 视频文件》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Identification Methods for AI-Generated Content: File Metadata Implicit Identification – Text Files《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容标识方法 文件元数据隐式标识 文本文件》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Identification Methods for AI-Generated Content: File Metadata Implicit Identification – Image Files《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容标识方法 文件元数据隐式标识 图片文件》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Identification Methods for AI-Generated Content: File Metadata Implicit Identification – Audio Files《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容标识方法 文件元数据隐式标识 音频文件》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Identification Methods for AI-Generated Content: File Metadata Implicit Identification – Technical Guidelines for Security Protection《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容标识方法 文件元数据隐式标识 安全防护技术指南》
• Cybersecurity Standards Practice Guidelines – Detection of AI-Generated Content – Part 1: Framework《网络安全标准实践指南——人工智能生成内容检测 第1部分：框架》
• Cybersecurity Technology - Security Specifications for Pre-training and Optimisation Training Data in Generative Artificial Intelligence《网络安全技术 生成式人工智能预训练和优化训练数据安全规范》
• Cybersecurity Technology-Basic Security Requirements for Generative Artificial Intelligence Services《网络安全技术 生成式人工智能服务安全基本要求》
• Information Security Technology — Security Requirements of Voiceprint Recognition Data《信息安全技术 声纹识别数据安全要求》
• Information Security Technology — Security Requirements of Gait Recognition Data《信息安全技术 步态识别数据安全要求》

 China has established regulations to protect intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets, including certain basic laws as well as guidelines in the field of AI.

• The Copyright Law《著作权法》, promulgated by the NPC Standing Committee in  September 1990 and last amended in November 2020, and the Regulations for Implementation of the Copyright Law《著作权法实施条例》,  promulgated by the State Council in August 2002 and last amended in January 2013, provide that Chinese citizens, legal persons, or other organisations enjoy copyright protection for their works, whether published or not, in fields which include works of literature, art, natural science, social science, engineering technology, and computer software.
• The Guidelines for Patent Applications Related to Artificial Intelligence (Trial) 《人工智能相关发明专利申请指引（试行）》, issued in December 2024 by the China National Intellectual Property Administration, provides detailed instructions for patent applications in the AI field. These guidelines cover types of patent applications, identification of inventors, standards for patentable subject matter, sufficient disclosure in the specification, considerations of inventiveness, and ethical issues. The guidelines emphasize that patent applications should reflect technical means to solve specific technical problems, inventors must be natural persons, and the specification should describe the technical solution in detail to enable implementation by skilled personnel.
• The Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China《反不正当竞争法》, enacted in April 2019 by the National People’s Congress, defines “trade secrets” as technical and business information that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and is subject to confidentiality measures by the rights holder. Generative AI technologies, which involve data resources for training or learning, are closely related to trade secrets. Information related to large models during training, fine-tuning, and inference processes includes code, algorithms, and data. In addition, the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law, issued on June 27, 2025, and effective from October 15, 2025, provides that business operators shall not use data and algorithms, technology, platform rules, etc. to carry out relevant acts of unfair competition online. 
• China's Supreme People's Court recognized AI-generated voices as protected personality rights in May 2025, by including a Beijing Internet Court decision, holding that AI-generated voice infringed on rights of the dubbed, in its 'Typical cases on the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Civil Code.' 
• The Patent Examination Guidelines《专利审查指南》, amended in November 2025 by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and effective from January 1, 2026, reaffirm that inventors must be natural persons and mandate accurate disclosure of all inventors’ identity information, expressly prohibiting the designation of institutions, collectives, or AI systems as inventors. The revised Guidelines further strengthen disclosure requirements for AI‑related inventions by requiring patent specifications to clearly describe model architectures, training processes and key parameters, or to explain how algorithms are combined with specific application scenarios, so as to ensure that the claimed technical solution can be implemented by a person skilled in the art.

Competition

China has implemented stringent regulations to control the export of AI technologies, ensuring their responsible use and preventing national security risks.

• The Regulations on the Administration of Technology Import and Export 《技术进出口管理条例》, issued in November 2022 , and the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export by China《中国禁止出口限制出口技术目录》, issued in December 2023, restrict the export of certain AI technologies, including network early warning linkage response technology, speech synthesis technology, AI interactive interface technology, intelligent examination paper scoring technology, and personalised information push service technology.
• The Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-use Items《两用物项出口管制条例》, issued in September 2024 by the State Council, serve as an important supporting rule for the Export Control Law. These regulations apply to the transit, transshipment, transportation, re-export, and export from special customs supervision areas or bonded areas of dual-use items.
• The Export Control List of Dual-use Items of the People's Republic of China《两用物项出口管制清单》, issued in November 2024 by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), includes items from various fields such as information technology, communication technology, AI, and quantum computing. The list specifically covers AI and automation technologies, quantum technologies, and semiconductor technologies.

Investment

China has also established several key regulations to govern foreign direct investment (FDI), ensuring a stable and transparent environment for foreign investors:

• The Foreign Investment Law《外商投资法》, adopted in March 2019 by the National People’s Congress and effective from 1 January 2020, ensures that foreign investors receive treatment no less favourable than domestic investors, adhering to the principle of “national treatment” throughout the investment lifecycle, including in the AI sector.
• The Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment (Edition 2025) 《鼓励外商投资产业目录（2025年版）》, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the MOC in December 2025 and effective from 1 February 2026, together with  the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access (Edition 2024)《外商投资准入特别管理措施（负面清单）(2024年版)》issued in September 2024 by the NDRC and the MOC and effective in November 2024, categorise industries into “encouraged”, “restricted”, and “prohibited". The Encouraging Catalogue and the Negative List are subject to review and update by the Chinese government from time to time.

The Measures for the Security Review of Foreign Investments《外商投资安全审查办法》, issued in December 2020 by the NDRC and the MOC, require a security review for foreign investments that may affect national security. This includes investments in military and defense-related industries, important agricultural products, energy, resources, equipment manufacturing, infrastructure, transport services, cultural products, information technology, Internet services, financial services, key technologies, and obtaining a controlling stake in the investee enterprise.