AI law and policy in China
7 instruments relevant to AI in China are indexed here, 7 of them binding law, 2 of which name AI or deepfakes in their titles.
Governance readiness 9 of 10 points on the governance readiness index, which records how much machinery exists, not how strict it is. AI Governance Readiness Index This site Our own editorial coding from primary legal sources, not an objective measurement. Every score cites a specific instrument and article. "Readiness" means the machinery exists to govern AI. It is emphatically not a judgement that the resulting rules are good, proportionate, or well enforced. Cite AI Safety Tracker, "AI Governance Readiness Index". https://aisafetytracker.org/methodology/governance-readiness/. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
Use of AI, AI datacentres and governance readiness beside this index: AI in China
Statutes
Act of Parliament. Binding on everyone it applies to.
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Data Security Law 2021
National People's Congress
Classifies data by importance and restricts cross-border transfer of important data, which constrains where training corpora can be assembled and processed.
- security
- export control
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National People's Congress
China's general data protection statute, including rules on automated decision-making and a right to an explanation where a decision has a significant effect on an individual.
- privacy
- transparency
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Cybersecurity Law 2016
National People's Congress
The statute the administrative measures are made under. Network operators carry security obligations and a real-name requirement, which is what makes the algorithm filing and security assessment regimes enforceable. An amendment in force from January 2026 added its first article on AI, covering state support for research and infrastructure, ethics rules and AI safety risk monitoring.
- security
Rules made under an Act
Rules, regulations or codes made under an Act. Binding.
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Cyberspace Administration of China and three other bodies
In force from September 2025, with a mandatory national standard alongside it. Requires both a label the reader can see and one embedded in file metadata, which is a stronger requirement than the EU's Article 50.
- labelling
- transparency
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Cyberspace Administration of China and six other bodies
The first binding national rules addressed to generative AI anywhere: security assessment and algorithm filing before public launch, content obligations, and duties on training data.
- safety
- transparency
- security
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Cyberspace Administration of China
Required labelling of synthetic media two years before any comparable Western obligation, and requires consent before generating a likeness of a real person.
- labelling
- transparency
- safety
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Cyberspace Administration of China
Created the algorithm filing regime that the later measures build on, and gave users a right to switch recommendation off. The filing register is the closest thing any jurisdiction has to a public inventory of deployed systems.
- transparency
- consumer
About this index
Compiled here from primary instruments and licensed MIT.
7 of the 7 instruments here are binding law, and 2 of those name AI. The remainder apply to AI without naming it, so a keyword search of the statute book does not find them.
Topics covered: consumer, export control, labelling, privacy, safety, security, transparency. A build check probes every citation on this page, because a link that returns a 404 looks like evidence and is not.
This is not legal advice. It is not a compliance checklist and it is not exhaustive. Commencement dates, proposals and enforcement positions move; the review date is on every record. If something here is wrong, say so and it gets fixed and listed rather than quietly patched.