China Tightens Tech Export Rules as the West Rethinks Transfer Policy

The notice, reported by China Daily on 4 January, would add one item, revise one and remove three from the catalog of technologies subject to export bans or restrictions. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated the change. Beijing frames it as alignment with international practice.

Ding Rijia, an industrial economy professor at the China University of Mining and Technology in Beijing, told China Daily the revision aims to balance protection of critical technologies and mineral resources with global innovation and exchange. Cui Fan, an international trade professor at the University of International Business and Economics, said foreign firms can still access listed technologies by obtaining export permission from the Chinese government.

That is the Chinese side of a two-way tightening. The West is moving too, and not only through export controls.

A CSIS analysis argues technology denial measures such as export controls are inadequate on their own. The paper says the greatest advantage would come from a collective approach to deny China the ability to export products of illicitly acquired technology, paired with sustained diplomacy. It recommends extending the "trustworthy supplier" logic developed during the 5G debate to other technologies, and creating mechanisms to hold China accountable.

CSIS states four assumptions behind its recommendations. China will remain a competitor and will ignore international norms when convenient. Neither side can decouple, because the global economy is too interconnected. China will advance technologically regardless of Western constraints, and at best the West can slow that progress. Global distrust in China will keep growing, though not yet enough to counter Chinese influence and incentives in many countries.

On the legislative side, Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) introduced the China Technology Transfer Control Act on 7 February 2025, according to an analysis by the law firm Husch Blackwell's trade blog. The bill would restrict exports to China of "national interest technology" and intellectual property. That covers tech contributing significantly to China's military potential, tech the Chinese government uses to violate human rights or religious liberties, and components of products supported under Made in China 2025.

It would also require the President to impose asset-freezing sanctions on foreign persons selling to or buying from China any of those items, or on Chinese persons who knowingly use them after receiving them in violation of U.S. export controls. Versions of the bill were introduced in the last three Congresses and did not advance beyond committee.

China's own regime is not just about outbound curbs. A separate review by China Gateway 360 says revised Technology Import and Export Regulations took effect in January 2025, the first major update since 2002. The restricted technology catalog expanded from 182 categories in 2023 to 346 in 2025, a 90 percent increase. Penalties for non-compliance rose from a maximum of RMB 500,000 to RMB 2.5 million.

Under those rules, licenses signed before January 2025 must be re-registered by July 2025 or face automatic suspension. Licensing agreements for restricted technologies are capped at 10 years, including renewals. The publication says industry estimates suggest at least 60 percent of legacy license agreements lack required sub-licensing clauses.

Both directions of policy now treat technology transfer as a security question, not a commercial one. The near-term test is whether any of it produces measurable change, or just more paperwork on both sides.