(Trial) Measures for Science and Technology Ethics Reviews

• Authority: Chinese central government
• Jurisdiction: China
• Collections: Chinese law and policy;Editors' Picks
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2023-10-08

Risk subdomain coverage

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

• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Governance failure
• AI pursuing its own goals
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities
• 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.

• Pollution of information ecosystem
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Environmental harm

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 privacy compromise (2.1), AI system security (2.2), overreliance and unsafe use (5.1), loss of agency and autonomy (5.2), governance failure (6.5), goal misalignment (7.1), dangerous capabilities (7.2), lack of robustness (7.3), and lack of transparency (7.4). Coverage is concentrated in privacy/security, human-computer interaction, governance, and AI safety domains.

Sector coverage

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

• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Educational Services
• Health Care & Social Assistance

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

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Scientific Research and Development Services sector, with significant coverage of Health Care and Social Assistance, Educational Services, and Information sectors. It applies to research institutions, universities, medical facilities, and enterprises conducting S&T activities in areas such as AI, life sciences, and medicine.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding regulatory instrument with mandatory language throughout, explicit enforcement mechanisms including penalties and sanctions, and formal administrative oversight structures. The document uses mandatory terms like 'shall' extensively and establishes legal consequences for non-compliance.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST); Chinese central government
• Summary: The document is formulated by the Ministry of Science and Technology as indicated by Article 55 which states 'MOST shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Measures' and the document header indicating Chinese central government authority.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: Institutes of higher education, scientific research institutions, medical and health institutions, and enterprises engaged in S&T activities in areas such as life sciences, medicine, and artificial intelligence
• Summary: The document explicitly targets work units conducting S&T activities, particularly those in AI, life sciences, and medicine. Article 4 specifically identifies institutes of higher education, scientific research institutions, medical and health institutions, and enterprises as entities responsible for establishing ethics review committees.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST); local and relevant main industrial oversight departments; provincial-level S&T administrative departments; project management departments
• Summary: The document establishes MOST as the primary enforcement authority with responsibility for overall guidance, while local and industrial oversight departments are responsible for supervision and management in their respective jurisdictions. Multiple articles detail enforcement powers and procedures.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: S&T ethics (review) committees; Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST); local and relevant main industrial oversight departments; National Science and Technology Ethics Commission
• Summary: The document establishes S&T ethics review committees as the primary monitoring bodies for ongoing S&T activities, with MOST providing oversight through a national information registration platform. The National Science and Technology Ethics Commission provides professional advice on important oversight matters.

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 comprehensively covers all stages of the AI lifecycle, with particularly strong emphasis on the Plan and Design, Verify and Validate, Deploy, and Operate and Monitor stages. It establishes ethics review requirements that span from initial planning through ongoing operational monitoring.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Models
• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions AI systems, algorithmic models, and automated decision-making systems. It does not use terms like 'frontier AI', 'general purpose AI', 'foundation models', or 'generative AI' but focuses on functional descriptions of AI capabilities and risks. There is no mention of compute thresholds or open-weight models.