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Sweeping travel restrictions on Chinese citizens came into effect on Tuesday, including exit bans for people considered to have endangered China<\/a>‘s “industrial or technological security.”<\/p>\n The new exit-and-entry rules, which were passed in July, apply to citizens deemed to have violated technology import and export regulations, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n The State Council in Beijing said the new rules were formulated to “safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.”<\/p>\n The regulations apply not only to people within China but also to Chinese citizens deemed to have committed criminal acts abroad.<\/p>\n In such cases, citizens could be “prohibited from leaving the country for a period of six months to three years from the date of their return to China,” said the State Council.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The restrictions come as China remains locked in a technological arms race with the United States<\/a>, with both countries accusing each other of stealing locally developed AI models in recent months.<\/p>\n And analysts warn that the full scope of the new rules will only become clear once they start being implemented.<\/p>\n Security and criminal activities “can be vaguely defined and easily adjusted,”\u00a0said Chong Ja Ian, an analyst from the National University of Singapore<\/a>, telling the AFP news agency that Beijing has given itself a “wide remit.”<\/p>\nTravel bans give Beijing\u00a0‘wide remit’<\/h2>\n