China (People's Republic of China)AI regulation

Regulation Status

• China does not have a single comprehensive AI law. Instead, it regulates AI through a patchwork of sector-specific regulations, administrative measures, judicial guidance, and technical standards targeting key applications such as recommendation algorithms, generative AI, deep synthesis, synthetic content labelling, facial recognition, network data security risk assessment, data governance, and AI misuse affecting personality rights. A comprehensive AI law has been placed on the 2026 legislative agenda, but no unified national AI law has yet been enacted.
• China is actively shaping global AI governance through bilateral, multilateral, and UN initiatives, promoting principles of sovereignty, inclusivity, and non-discrimination, while also seeking to influence international standards and frameworks.
• China’s AI governance emphasizes national security, social stability, and alignment with state interests, with explicit requirements for content control, data localization, risk management, and data security assessments, as well as strong extraterritorial reach for foreign providers operating in China.
• China’s regulatory approach is highly adaptive and iterative, with frequent updates, new draft measures, evolving technical standards, and emerging judicial rules reflecting rapid technological change and political priorities.
• Regulatory enforcement is centralized and highly coordinated, with the CAC and other ministries playing leading roles in rulemaking and compliance oversight, including mandatory registration, security assessments, government-led model reviews, and, since August 2026, formal network data security risk-assessment reporting for important data handlers. The Supreme People’s Court has also issued China’s first judicial rules targeting AI misuse, including unauthorized synthetic voices or digital avatars and AI-assisted doxing as infringements of personality rights.