China
China governs AI through national laws, administrative measures, technical standards and service-specific rules.
Policy approach
Current structureThe framework combines development policy with provider duties covering algorithms, generated content, security, registration and information services.
Policy questions
Should AI-generated content be labelled?
Governments require disclosure in different forms. Technical duties, responsible actors and enforcement models still diverge.
Should frontier models face mandatory evaluations?
Evaluation language is widespread in policy texts. Thresholds, evaluators and legal consequences remain contested.
Should AI data centres face growth controls?
Electricity, water, local consent and national competitiveness are turning compute infrastructure into a policy fight.
Should advanced AI chips face export controls?
US export controls already treat advanced computing integrated circuits as regulated items. The dispute is scope, partners and effectiveness.
Should watermarking standards be mandatory?
Open provenance standards such as C2PA already exist. The dispute is whether law should require them or leave adoption voluntary.
Policy asks
Require machine-readable marking of AI-generated or altered content
Require covered providers to attach detectable technical provenance markers to synthetic or materially altered content.
Require visible disclosure for deepfakes and public-interest synthetic media
Require people encountering covered synthetic media to receive a clear, visible disclosure rather than relying only on hidden metadata.
Require lifecycle safety governance for autonomous AI agents
Treat safety, reliability and trustworthiness as requirements across research, deployment and promotion of AI agents with autonomous capabilities.
Policy vehicles
AI-Generated Synthetic Content Labelling Measures
China’s administrative measures govern explicit and implicit labels for covered AI-generated synthetic content.
Implementation Opinions on Standardized Application and Innovative Development of AI Agents
Joint policy guidance defining AI agents, setting four principles, and organising work on technology foundations, classified safety governance, nineteen application scenes and an innovation ecology.
Policy timeline
Events and deadlines- 2025-03-14China publishes synthetic-content labelling measures
Four authorities published measures governing labels for AI-generated synthetic content.
- 2025-09-01China’s synthetic-content labelling measures take effect
The national labelling measures entered into force.
- 2026-05-08China issues national policy direction for AI agents
CAC, NDRC and MIIT jointly issued implementation opinions for AI agents.