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Beijing has proposed banning exports of the technology used to make next-generation solar cells, a move that could complicate United States technology guru Elon Musk’s plan to expand into space solar power.
The ban, which covers production technology for perovskite and tandem solar cell modules, is part of a proposal by China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology to control exports of 40 technologies in artificial intelligence, biomedicine and solar manufacturing. Fourteen would face outright bans, while 26 would require licenses. Products made with the controlled technologies could still be exported. The public can comment until November 15.
Musk said on a Tesla earnings call in late January that the company would work toward producing 100 gigawatts of solar cells a year in the US. Media reports said part of that capacity would power SpaceX satellites.
Perovskite cells, often stacked on silicon in tandem designs, are efficient, light and flexible. On Earth, they degrade quickly when exposed to moisture and oxygen, but space has almost none of either. The cells can also heal themselves after radiation damage, making them a leading option for satellites.
Besides perovskite and tandem cell module production technology, the 14 technologies proposed for a ban include AI-driven malicious code generation and mutation, and proprietary cell and gene therapy process platforms. Those requiring a license include AI-assisted vulnerability discovery and engineering technology for polysilicon lines with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons or more.
The 40 technologies span three fields:
- In AI, 23 technologies related to large models, AI agents, computing clusters and information processing would be covered. Technologies already in the public domain through open-source releases or academic papers would be exempt.
- In biomedicine, five technologies related to cell and gene therapy, small nucleic acid drugs and pathogenic microorganisms would be covered. Outbound licensing deals that do not involve a transfer of ownership would qualify for automatic licenses and other facilitation measures.
- In solar, 12 technologies related to polysilicon, wafer and cell manufacturing would be covered. The controls would also extend to the key and core equipment that carries these technologies.
“In recent years, AI, biomedical and solar technologies have been increasingly applied in sensitive fields, and all major economies have imposed export controls to varying degrees. China has drawn on common international practice and imposed necessary controls in accordance with the law,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce.
“The aim is to guard against the risks of technology getting out of control and spreading improperly, while safeguarding normal international technology exchanges and cooperation. This will help ensure that science and technology remain a force for good that is safe, controllable and beneficial to humanity,” he said.
The spokesperson described the revision as a routine update to China’s catalog of technologies prohibited or restricted from export, which the two ministries have adjusted periodically since 2001. He added that it does not target any specific country, region or entity.
He said most AI and biotech activity would not be affected, adding that offering AI models to overseas users through application programming interfaces (APIs), apps, websites, software-as-a-service (SaaS) or lightweight on-device versions would not count as an export.
Downloading an open-source Chinese model to run on computers outside China would not be affected, but a Chinese firm would need a license to install a controlled model on an overseas client’s servers.
The proposal follows a September 21 agreement in New York between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to notify each other of AI incidents that could threaten national security, with Bessent citing non-state actors in cyberattacks and bioweapons as examples.
Musk’s solar push
Musk announced the 100-gigawatt plan on a Tesla earnings call in late January, saying the company would cover the entire supply chain from raw materials to finished solar panels. Days later, he sent a team to visit Chinese solar firms involved in equipment, silicon wafers, cell modules and perovskite technology. GCL Group confirmed the visit, while JinkoSolar said it had signed no agreements.
In early February, SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI firm xAI. The trillionaire said space would become the cheapest place to generate AI computing within two to three years, using satellites with near-constant solar power. On February 8, Musk wrote on X that SpaceX’s overriding priority was a Moon city, possibly achievable in under 10 years.
In March, Reuters reported that Tesla was in talks to buy about US$2.9 billion of Chinese solar manufacturing equipment, some of it needing Chinese export approval.
Citing an industry expert, the 21st Century Business Herald, a state-owned newspaper, said on October 17 that China would allow foreign firms to buy its perovskite cells, but not the related manufacturing equipment.
“Space photovoltaics is the core energy source for strategic industries such as commercial spaceflight, space stations, space computing and deep-space exploration. It serves both civilian and defense needs and bears on the security of China’s space energy strategy,” Zhao Lei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Electrical Engineering and director of its solar cell technology research department, told the newspaper.
“Western countries have long imposed a technology blockade on China in traditional multi-junction III-V compound space solar cells (costly gallium arsenide-based satellite cells), tightly controlling exports of high-performance epitaxy equipment to hold back our space solar development through an equipment gap,” he said. “The situation has now changed.”
The restrictions date back to 1989, when the US imposed an arms embargo on China after the Tiananmen crackdown. The embargo barred exports of defense items and space technology to China, including III-V space solar cells controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Zhao said that while China has been shut out of III-V cell technology, it leads in the two cheaper routes, crystalline silicon cells and perovskite cells, including tandem designs, and has the world’s most complete solar supply chain, making space solar one of the few high-end sectors where it is strong from end to end.
He said export controls would let China keep selling its products abroad while stopping foreign firms from using its best production equipment to quickly build their own factories and win orders from Chinese suppliers.
In other words, Musk could still use perovskite cells in his satellites, but he would need to buy them from China instead of producing them in the US.
Chinese firms held 96% of global polysilicon capacity and 91.3% of solar cell capacity at the end of 2025, according to the newspaper.
Perovskite solar cells were first developed in Japan in 2009, but Chinese firms have led the push to mass-produce them. Microquanta Semiconductor began producing perovskite modules in 2023 and GCL Group is building a 2-gigawatt line. LONGi Green Energy Technology set a 35.5% efficiency record for tandem cells in July.
Meanwhile, across the strait, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin told Bloomberg in an October 12 interview that the island would add AI servers and cutting-edge semiconductors to its controlled-export list, aligning with US export-control requirements.
Once the rules take effect, unlicensed shipments to China would become a criminal offense under Taiwan’s Foreign Trade Act.
“Going forward, some of our measures on controlled items will correspond to American ones,” Kung said, citing Taiwan’s commitments under the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade it signed with the United States this year.
He declined to say when the new measures would take effect. He added that Taiwan plans to raise billions of dollars for US industrial parks to support a local supply chain for Nvidia and other AI hardware makers.
Read: US-China open hotline to rein in runaway AI
Follow Jeff Pao on X at @jeffpao3
