Interim Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services
Version and sources (verifiable)
Item Content Adopted deliberated and adopted at the 12th executive meeting of the Cyberspace Administration of China in 2023 (23 May 2023), and agreed by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Radio and Television Administration Promulgated 10 July 2023 (Order No. 15 of seven departments) Effective 15 August 2023 Structure 5 chapters, 24 articles Currently effective Yes (as of 2026-09-22) Chinese original https://www.cac.gov.cn/2023-07/13/c_1690898327029107.htm English version No official English translation published. This English text is a translation by our editorial team, cross-checked article by article against the official Chinese text; it is not an official translation and is for reference only. Verification Retrieved 2026-09-22; 24 articles, correspondence with the Chinese text verified one-for-one, no gaps
Chapter I General provisions
Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Progress and other laws and administrative regulations, for the purposes of promoting the sound development and regulated application of generative artificial intelligence, safeguarding national security and the public interest, and protecting the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organisations.
Article 2 These Measures apply to services that use generative artificial intelligence technology to provide the public within the territory of the People’s Republic of China with content such as text, images, audio and video (hereinafter “generative AI services”).
Where the State has other provisions on the use of generative AI services for activities such as news and publishing, film and television production, and literary and artistic creation, those provisions shall prevail.
These Measures do not apply to industry organisations, enterprises, educational and research institutions, public cultural institutions and relevant professional institutions that develop and apply generative AI technology without providing generative AI services to the public within the territory.
Article 3 The State adheres to the principle of attaching equal importance to development and security and combining the promotion of innovation with governance according to law, takes effective measures to encourage innovative development of generative artificial intelligence, and exercises inclusive, prudent and classification-based, tiered regulation over generative AI services.
Article 4 The provision and use of generative AI services shall comply with laws and administrative regulations, respect public order and good morals and ethics, and comply with the following provisions:
(1) uphold the core socialist values; not generate content prohibited by laws and administrative regulations, such as content that incites subversion of State power or overthrow of the socialist system, endangers national security and interests or damages the national image, incites secession and undermines national unity and social stability, propagates terrorism or extremism, propagates ethnic hatred or ethnic discrimination, or is violent or obscene, or false and harmful information;
(2) take effective measures in the course of algorithm design, selection of training data, model generation and optimisation, and service provision to prevent discrimination on grounds such as ethnicity, belief, country, region, gender, age, occupation and health;
(3) respect intellectual property rights and business ethics, keep trade secrets, and refrain from using advantages in algorithms, data or platforms to engage in monopolistic or unfair competitive practices;
(4) respect the lawful rights and interests of others; not endanger the physical or mental health of others; not infringe others’ rights to portrait, reputation, honour, privacy or personal information;
(5) take effective measures, in light of the characteristics of the type of service, to enhance the transparency of generative AI services and improve the accuracy and reliability of generated content.
Article 5 Innovative application of generative artificial intelligence technology in all industries and fields is encouraged, so as to generate positive, healthy and uplifting high-quality content, explore and optimise application scenarios, and build an application ecosystem.
Industry organisations, enterprises, educational and research institutions, public cultural institutions and relevant professional institutions are supported in collaborating on technological innovation, construction of data resources, transformation and application, and risk prevention in generative artificial intelligence.
Article 6 Independent innovation in basic technologies such as generative artificial intelligence algorithms, frameworks, chips and supporting software platforms is encouraged, as are international exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and participation in the formulation of international rules relating to generative artificial intelligence.
The construction of generative artificial intelligence infrastructure and public training-data resource platforms shall be promoted. Collaborative sharing of computing power resources shall be facilitated and the efficiency of their use improved. The classified and tiered, orderly opening of public data shall be promoted to expand high-quality public training-data resources. The use of secure and trustworthy chips, software, tools, computing power and data resources is encouraged.
Chapter II Development and governance of generative AI technology
Article 7 Providers of generative AI services (hereinafter “providers”) shall, in accordance with law, carry out training data processing activities such as pre-training and optimisation training, and shall comply with the following provisions:
(1) use data and foundation models with lawful sources;
(2) where intellectual property is involved, not infringe intellectual property rights lawfully enjoyed by others;
(3) where personal information is involved, obtain the consent of the individual or satisfy other circumstances provided for by laws and administrative regulations;
(4) take effective measures to improve the quality of training data and enhance its authenticity, accuracy, objectivity and diversity;
(5) comply with other relevant provisions of the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law, the Personal Information Protection Law and other laws and administrative regulations, and with the relevant regulatory requirements of the competent departments.
Article 8 Where data annotation is carried out in the course of research and development of generative artificial intelligence technology, the provider shall formulate clear, specific and operable annotation rules that meet the requirements of these Measures; carry out quality assessment of data annotation and verify by sampling the accuracy of annotated content; and provide necessary training to annotators to raise their awareness of law-abiding conduct and supervise and guide them to carry out annotation work in a standardised manner.
Article 9 A provider shall, in accordance with law, bear the responsibility of an online information content producer and perform its online information security obligations. Where personal information is involved, it shall, in accordance with law, bear the responsibility of a personal information processor and perform its personal information protection obligations.
A provider shall conclude a service agreement with the users of the generative AI service registered with it (hereinafter “users”) to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties.
Article 10 A provider shall clearly define and publicly disclose the applicable groups of people, occasions and purposes of its service, guide users to understand and use generative artificial intelligence technology in a scientific and rational manner and in accordance with law, and take effective measures to prevent minor users from becoming overly dependent on or addicted to generative AI services.
Article 11 A provider shall, in accordance with law, perform protection obligations in respect of users’ input information and usage records, shall not collect unnecessary personal information, shall not unlawfully retain input information and usage records that can identify users, and shall not unlawfully provide users’ input information and usage records to others.
A provider shall, in accordance with law and in a timely manner, accept and handle individuals’ requests to access, copy, correct, supplement and delete their personal information.
Article 12 A provider shall label generated content such as images and videos in accordance with the Provisions on the Administration of Deep Synthesis of Internet Information Services.
Article 13 A provider shall, in the course of its service, provide safe, stable and continuous service and ensure normal use by users.
Article 14 Where a provider discovers illegal content, it shall promptly take measures such as stopping generation, stopping transmission and elimination, take measures such as model optimisation training for rectification, and report to the competent departments.
Where a provider discovers that a user is using the generative AI service to engage in illegal activities, it shall, in accordance with law and the agreement, take measures such as warning, restricting functions, suspending or terminating the provision of services to that user, preserve the relevant records, and report to the competent departments.
Article 15 A provider shall establish and improve complaint and reporting mechanisms, set up convenient complaint and reporting channels, publish the handling process and the time limit for feedback, and promptly accept and handle public complaints and reports and give feedback on the outcome.
Chapter III Obligations of providers
Article 16 The departments for cyberspace administration, development and reform, education, science and technology, industry and information technology, public security, radio and television and news and publishing shall, in accordance with their respective duties and in accordance with law, strengthen the administration of generative AI services.
The competent State departments shall, in light of the characteristics of generative artificial intelligence technology and its service applications in the relevant industries and fields, improve scientific regulatory approaches compatible with innovative development, and formulate corresponding classification-based and tiered regulatory rules or guidelines.
Article 17 A provider that provides generative AI services with attributes of public opinion or capacity for social mobilisation shall carry out a security assessment in accordance with the relevant State provisions and, in accordance with the Provisions on the Administration of Algorithmic Recommendations in Internet Information Services, complete the procedures for algorithm filing and for modification and cancellation of filing.
Article 18 Where a user discovers that a generative AI service does not comply with laws, administrative regulations and these Measures, the user has the right to complain to or report the matter to the competent departments.
Article 19 The competent departments shall, in accordance with their duties, carry out supervision and inspection of generative AI services, and providers shall cooperate in accordance with law, explain as required the sources, scale and types of training data, annotation rules, and the mechanisms of the algorithms, and provide the necessary technical and data support and assistance.
Relevant institutions and personnel participating in the security assessment and supervision and inspection of generative AI services shall, in accordance with law, keep confidential the State secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy and personal information learned in the performance of their duties, and shall not disclose them or unlawfully provide them to others.
Article 20 Where a generative AI service provided to the public within the territory from outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China does not comply with laws, administrative regulations and these Measures, the national cyberspace administration department shall notify the relevant institutions to take technical measures and other necessary measures to deal with it.
Article 21 Where a provider violates these Measures, the competent departments shall impose penalties in accordance with the provisions of the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Progress and other laws and administrative regulations; where laws and administrative regulations do not so provide, the competent departments shall, in accordance with their duties, issue a warning or a notice of criticism and order correction within a time limit; where the provider refuses to correct or the circumstances are serious, order it to suspend the provision of the relevant service.
Where the act constitutes a violation of public security administration, public security administrative penalties shall be imposed in accordance with law; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with law.
Chapter IV Definitions
Article 22 For the purposes of these Measures:
(1) “generative artificial intelligence technology” means models and related technology with the capacity to generate content such as text, images, audio and video;
(2) “provider of generative AI services” means an organisation or individual that uses generative artificial intelligence technology to provide generative AI services (including providing such services through, for example, programmable interfaces);
(3) “user of generative AI services” means an organisation or individual that uses generative AI services to generate content.
Chapter V Supplementary provisions
Article 23 Where laws and administrative regulations require that a relevant administrative licence be obtained to provide generative AI services, the provider shall obtain the licence in accordance with law.
Foreign-invested generative AI services shall comply with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations on foreign investment.
Article 24 These Measures shall come into force on 15 August 2023.