BEIJING, Oct. 17 -- A Chinese company that wants to license a controlled AI technology to a customer abroad now has to tell the Commerce Ministry first, and since Friday that duty reaches deals already under way.

The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology opened a month-long consultation on Friday on adding 40 technologies to China's export ban and licensing catalogue, Xinhua reported. Twenty-three are AI, 12 are solar and five are biomedical. The interim registration rule runs from the notice's issue date until a final catalogue takes effect.

Selling access is not exporting. In its question-and-answer note, the ministry said offering a model through an API, an app, a website or software as a service, or lightwe...