Trump Faces Backlash as China Moves to Block US Access to Advanced Technology
The United States has long imposed restrictions and blocked access to advanced technology in China, a policy that intensified under the Donald Trump administration. However, rather than yielding to US protectionism, China has been motivated to develop its own advanced technological capabilities independently.
As China’s technological prowess grows, US companies have increasingly utilised cost-effective Chinese AI technology. Now, China appears ready to retaliate by limiting access to its most advanced AI technologies to the West. Beijing is currently considering stricter export controls on AI and semiconductor technologies as part of an effort to ensure strategic technologies remain within the country.
A report by the Financial Times, cited by Reuters, suggests these moves reflect China’s drive to keep domestic AI development internal. Beijing has begun viewing advanced AI as a national asset that must be controlled, mirroring the approach taken by the United States.
Reuters has exclusively reported that Chinese authorities have held meetings with major technology firms to discuss potential restrictions on foreign access to China’s most advanced AI models, including those not yet released. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is reportedly consulting with domestic AI companies and chipmakers to find ways to prevent advanced Chinese technology and its leading startups from being acquired by Western interests.
According to the report, the Ministry of Commerce has also held discussions with AI companies such as Alibaba, Bytecro, and Zhipu regarding restrictions on transferring critical data used for AI model training abroad. Furthermore, the government is discussing measures to prevent model weights from being downloaded by foreign users.
Additionally, the Chinese government is seeking input on potential restrictions to prevent foreign chip manufacturers, including Qualcomm and TSMC, from producing advanced semiconductors based on designs developed by Chinese companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and ByteDance. These new measures could potentially be included in the next revision of China’s list of prohibited or restricted export technologies. However, the proposals are still under discussion, and regulators are considering industry feedback before making a final decision. The Financial Times also reported that similar restrictions could be applied to the overseas acquisition of strategic technologies, including the field of agentic AI.