China has issued a new regulation on exit and entry administration that will take effect on Sept. 15, 2026, putting export controls and technology leakage squarely in focus. The measure was signed by Premier Li Qiang as a State Council order.
The regulation contains 19 articles. According to the source report, it is the most important administrative rule in this area since the 2013 Exit and Entry Administration Law took effect.
Controlled-technology personnel added to travel restriction scope
The most watched provision formally brings Chinese citizens involved with controlled technologies into the scope of potential exit restrictions.
Under the new rule, if a Chinese citizen violates export control rules or technology import and export management rules, and that conduct could endanger national industrial security or technological security, the relevant authorities under the State Council, including commerce departments, may decide not to allow that person to leave the country.
That marks a shift from export controls focused mainly on goods and technology themselves to restrictions that can also reach the cross-border movement of people who hold that know-how.
The regulation also says that, in principle, people who are barred from leaving should receive written notice explaining the reason and available remedies. Cases involving national security or criminal investigations are exempt.
Rare earths, batteries and solar technology in focus
The text of the regulation does not name specific industries. Still, Chinese experts cited in the report said the measure is aimed at fields Beijing has already placed under export control, including rare earth separation technology, electrolyte formulas for electric-vehicle batteries, and N-type solar cell technology.
The report places that in the context of recent efforts by foreign companies to get around Chinese export controls by offering higher pay, green cards, and equity to recruit Chinese engineers, then replicating similar factories in Vietnam, India, or Mexico.
According to Asia Times, a participant in China’s rare earth industry had previously been sentenced to about 11 and a half years in prison for leaking secrets to a foreign company.
Rule arrives during supply-chain competition
The regulation is set to take effect as the United States, Japan, and the European Union push to build alternative rare earth and battery supply chains in Australia, Brazil, and Africa. The report says those projects have often needed Chinese technical talent to help solve mass-production challenges.
By moving from controls on goods and technology to controls that can also affect the movement of people holding critical know-how, China has pushed its export-control perimeter outward.
The measure briefly sparked online discussion in China over whether it signaled a return to isolation. Chinese state media dismissed that characterization as “nonsense” and said most of the 19 articles deal with routine exit-entry administration and filing requirements for intermediary agencies, rather than travel restrictions aimed at the general public.
Implementation details remain under watch
Once the rule takes effect on Sept. 15, 2026, attention will turn to how commerce and other authorities define conduct that could endanger technological security, and which specific technology fields will ultimately fall within that standard.