Ethical Norms for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence

• Authority: Chinese central government
• Jurisdiction: China
• Collections: Chinese law and policy
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2021-09-25

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Governance failure
• Lack of capability or robustness
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Unequal performance across groups
• False or misleading information
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Power centralization and unfair distribution
• Competitive dynamics
• Environmental harm
• AI pursuing its own goals

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has good coverage of approximately 10-12 subdomains, with strong focus on discrimination and fairness (1.1, 1.3), privacy protection (2.1), misinformation risks (3.1), security vulnerabilities (2.2), malicious use prevention (4.1, 4.2, 4.3), human agency (5.2), governance structures (6.5), and AI system robustness (7.3, 7.4). Coverage is concentrated in fairness, privacy, security, and governance domains.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Information
• Finance & Insurance
• Real Estate, Rental & Leasing
• Professional & Technical Services
• Management, Administrative & Support Services
• Educational Services
• Health Care & Social Assistance
• Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
• Accommodation, Food & Other Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document applies broadly across all sectors as it governs AI activities by natural persons, legal persons, and organizations engaged in AI management, research and development, supply, and use, without limiting application to specific industries. The norms are sector-agnostic ethical principles applicable to any entity working with AI technology.

Legislative Status

Soft Law

Legislative Status Summary

This document uses predominantly voluntary and aspirational language ('should', 'encourage', 'promote') with some mandatory prohibitions ('must not', 'forbidden'). While it includes some enforcement-oriented language, it lacks specific penalties, sanctions, or enforcement mechanisms, and relies primarily on ethical guidance and self-regulation.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Governance Committee of New Generation Artificial Intelligence
• Summary: The document explicitly states in Article 23 that it is issued by the National Governance Committee of New Generation Artificial Intelligence, which is also responsible for explaining and guiding its implementation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer, AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Infrastructure_Provider
• Entities: natural persons, legal persons, and other related organizations engaged in management, research and development, supply, and use of AI; management departments at all levels; enterprises; universities; research institutes; associations
• Summary: Article 2 explicitly defines the scope of application to include natural persons, legal persons, and organizations engaged in AI management, R&D, supply, and use. Article 24 further specifies management departments, enterprises, universities, research institutes, and associations as entities that may formulate more specific norms.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Governance Committee of New Generation Artificial Intelligence; management departments at all levels; relevant entities
• Summary: The National Governance Committee is responsible for guiding implementation (Article 23). Management departments are referenced in governance activities (Article 2) and Article 24. Article 17 mentions 'relevant entities to intervene in the AI systems in accordance with laws and regulations.'

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: management departments; AI developers and suppliers (self-monitoring); National Governance Committee of New Generation Artificial Intelligence
• Summary: The document emphasizes self-monitoring and self-discipline by developers and suppliers (Articles 10, 15, 17). Management departments are responsible for supervision and inspection (Article 2). The National Governance Committee guides implementation (Article 23). Article 8 calls for systematic risk monitoring and evaluations.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document explicitly covers all stages of the AI lifecycle, from planning and design through deployment and ongoing monitoring. It structures ethical norms across management, research and development, supply, and use activities, with particular emphasis on development (data quality, algorithm design) and operational monitoring (emergency protection, user feedback).

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document uses the general term 'AI' throughout and refers to 'AI systems,' 'AI products and services,' and 'AI technology' without distinguishing between specific types such as general purpose, task-specific, foundation models, or generative AI. There are no mentions of compute thresholds, frontier AI, or open-weight models. The scope appears to cover all AI technologies broadly.