Chinese model developers licensing technology abroad must register each covered export with MOFCOM now, while API, app, web and SaaS access to restricted models stays outside the rules.
DeepSeek and MiniMax have completed export registration under China’s new rules on AI technology and gone ahead with open-source releases and overseas licensing, according to Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV. The post appeared on the evening of Thursday, October 22, and was picked up on Friday by the South China Morning Post, Bloomberg and Chinese tech outlets. It came a week after the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) proposed adding 23 AI technologies to China’s export control catalog.
According to a version of the post republished by ifeng from IT之家, Yuyuan Tantian said that since the policy was announced, the two "头部企业", or leading companies, had duly completed registration and finished open-sourcing and overseas licensed use. A report by Bloomberg, carried by The Star, reported that the account told AI companies they could carry on commercializing their products as usual.
The sources cite no statement from either company, and none of them say which models or which overseas partners the registrations cover. For investors in MiniMax, which trades in Hong Kong, and for DeepSeek, which is reported to be nearing a RMB100 billion funding round, the post is the first public sign that China’s best-known model developers can keep licensing abroad under the new regime.
Registration has applied to covered AI exports since October 16
The joint MOFCOM and MOST announcement, No. 48 of 2026, opened a consultation on revising the Catalog of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export (《中国禁止出口限制出口技术目录》). In AI, it lists 23 technologies related to large models, AI agents, computing clusters and information processing. Comments are open until November 15.
The registration part took effect at once. From the announcement date until the revised catalog is in force, exporters must register any listed technology on MOFCOM’s Technology Trade Management Information Application (技术贸易管理信息应用) before exporting it. Exports that had started but were not finished are included. The filing covers transfers of ownership, licensing for use abroad, and changes that pass ownership or control of a technology to a foreign entity. Exporters must give details of themselves and the recipient, the destination country or region, the technology and its intended use, and the expected export value.
The SCMP reported that the provisions taking effect immediately had raised questions about whether Beijing was holding back Chinese AI companies abroad, given the international uptake of China’s open-weight models. Bloomberg wrote that the proposed rules could limit overseas access to China’s most advanced models.
MOFCOM’s carve-outs leave most model services outside the controls
A MOFCOM spokesperson’s Q&A issued with the announcement set out what is excluded. Technologies already in the public domain through open-source release or academic papers would not be controlled. Open-sourcing AI technology would qualify for automatic licensing and other facilitation measures. MOFCOM says Chinese firms using restricted large models to offer API calls, app or web access, SaaS or on-device deployment are outside large-model export management.
Localized deployment of a restricted model overseas does fall under the rules, though deployment on a company’s own overseas cloud may qualify for automatic licensing. The wider revision adds 40 technologies across AI, biomedicine and solar power, 14 of them prohibited and 26 restricted. MOFCOM says that once the revision takes effect, "绝大部分人工智能技术仍可以自由出口," meaning the great majority of AI technologies can still be exported freely.
Yuyuan Tantian pressed the same message. Bloomberg reported that the post described the catalog as meant to "define boundaries rather than simply restrict the export of AI technology," said the revisions were drafted over the first half of the year with input from research institutions and industry, and contrasted China’s approach with US export bans. Bloomberg also noted that Beijing added algorithms to the catalog in 2020, after the first Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok.
The final catalog and the list of 23 technologies will set the terms
The registration now in force is an interim step, and the consultation draft can still change before the revised catalog is published. Taiwan’s Commercial Times also framed the news as both companies completing registration and overseas authorization after MOFCOM released the policy, again citing Yuyuan Tantian as its source.
Three things will show how much room Chinese labs keep abroad: whether the final catalog keeps the API, SaaS and open-source exemptions as drafted, whether other Chinese model developers say they have registered, and whether DeepSeek or MiniMax disclose which overseas licensing deals the filings cover. A MiniMax exchange announcement on the registration would be the first company-sourced confirmation.