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The initiative would cover AI’s core inputs, applications and employment effects. It remains a legislative plan, with no effective date announced.
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Beijing is preparing a national AI legal framework, but the announcement is a commitment to develop legislation—not an enacted law. At a November 3, 2026 briefing, NDRC official Wang Ruomeng described a broad system that could shape the operating environment for Chinese AI firms including DeepSeek, Moonshot and Alibaba. No specific rules or effective date were announced, so companies have a policy direction to track but no new compliance requirements yet.
The agenda pairs support for data, computing power and algorithms with safety standards and ethical guidance for AI applications.
Officials would regularly review implementation and revise guidelines that become outdated.
Wang said the government would monitor AI’s employment effects and protect displaced workers while continuing to encourage AI development.
China will accelerate work on comprehensive AI legislation, with safety standards and ethical guidelines covering the technology from development through deployment. Economic-planning official Wang Ruomeng outlined the initiative at a November 3, 2026 news conference, saying Beijing would draw on its experience governing AI to build a national legal framework.
Wang is deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Department of Innovation and High-Tech Development. He described the intended legislation as foundational and comprehensive, designed to establish the pillars of an AI legal and regulatory system.
The announcement is a commitment to legislative work, not an enacted comprehensive AI law. No specific rule or effective date was given.
The planned legislation would support data, computing power and algorithms—the core inputs Wang identified for AI—and regulate key uses of the technology. His agenda combines measures supporting those inputs with safety standards and ethical guidelines.
Bloomberg reported that the rules would encompass developers including DeepSeek, Moonshot and Alibaba. It described the planned standards as safeguards against losing control over increasingly powerful AI systems. Those companies are competing with U.S. rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic.
AI safety is not a problem one company, industry or country can tackle alone — it is a global challenge requiring international cooperation
Wang Ruomeng, speaking at the Beijing briefing, as quoted by PYMNTS
Wang also outlined a process for keeping the framework current. The government would regularly review how the rules are carried out and revise guidelines that become outdated.
The government would monitor AI’s effects on employment and provide protections for workers affected by displacement, Wang said. He paired those safeguards with continued government encouragement of AI development.
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