China Speeds Up a Comprehensive AI Law as Users Pass 700m

More than 700 million people in China now use generative AI, over half the population. Beijing says it will speed up work on one comprehensive law to govern the technology, from the data that trains a model to the apps people use every day.

The plan was set out on Tuesday by Wang Ruomeng, a deputy director at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s state economic planner, at a press conference in Beijing on 3 November. According to a full account of his remarks in the Beijing Daily, China will “accelerate” what officials call a foundational, comprehensive AI law. Alongside it would come rules for data, computing power and algorithms, plus safety standards and ethics guidelines covering a model’s whole life, from development to deployment.

The 700 million figure comes from the China Internet Network Information Center, which reported in September that users passed that mark by the end of June 2026, with take-up above 50%.

What Beijing says it will do

Wang set out four areas of work for the 2026–2030 five-year plan.

Firms will get transition periods before rules bite, plus guidance on compliance by sector. Regulators will back “regulatory sandboxes”, controlled test zones where companies can try out AI products under looser rules, with set procedures for entering and leaving them.

AI developers and operators will be pushed to disclose safety risks and report security incidents and vulnerabilities. The state will also monitor AI’s effect on jobs, with early warnings on job losses and a social safety net for workers affected. New jobs such as model trainer and data labeller are to be added to China’s official list of occupations.

For ordinary users, Wang named algorithmic discrimination, deepfakes and privacy leaks as targets, with extra protection for older people and children. He also promised steps against AI addiction and emotional dependence on chatbots.

What it isn’t yet

There is no draft text, no deadline and no penalty regime. China has talked about a single AI law before: Caixin notes that a draft AI law appeared on the State Council’s legislative work plan in June 2023. Until now, Beijing has relied on narrower rules for specific uses, such as chatbots and deepfakes. Bloomberg reported that the planned standards would be among the most comprehensive anywhere aimed at keeping powerful AI under control.

Other governments are moving piece by piece. This week UK financial regulators told firms they cannot blame their AI agents when things go wrong.

Why it matters

Rules written for more than half of China’s population will shape how firms such as DeepSeek and Moonshot build their products, at home and abroad. The parts to watch are incident reporting and job monitoring, because they could produce public numbers on AI’s harms that are rarely published today.