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In forceBinding · Regulation / implementing rule

Measures for Science and Technology Ethics Review (Trial)

科技伦理审查办法(试行)

Record CN-04 · 国科发监〔2023〕167号

Issued by
Ministry of Science and Technology, with the Ministry of Education, MIIT, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Health Commission, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Association for Science and Technology, and the Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission
Jurisdiction
China
Level · region
National · East Asia
Published / adopted
2023-09-07
In force
2023-12-01
Language
Chinese
Official identifier
国科发监〔2023〕167号

Summary

Trial measures that set up ethics review of science and technology activities involving human participants or laboratory animals, or posing ethics risks to life and health, the environment or public order. Units doing life-science, medical or AI work in ethically sensitive areas must set up ethics committees, which check among other things that algorithms, models and systems follow fairness, justice, transparency, reliability and controllability principles. Listed higher-risk activities need expert re-review, among them human-machine fusion systems, algorithms able to mobilise public opinion, and highly autonomous automated decision systems in settings with safety or health risks.

Language

English translation by Etcetera Language Group, Inc., for the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), Georgetown University, not by a public body Open it. The Chinese text is authoritative.

Safety topics

human oversightaccountability & liabilityrisk-based classification

Scope

Borderline scope Not AI-specific; the existing scope_note stays (AI-related review list and parent framework of CN-15).

Status notes

Issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine other bodies with a notice of 7 Sept 2023, after approval by the Central Science and Technology Commission; published on the MOST website on 8 Oct 2023 and in force from 1 Dec 2023 (Art. 56). Activities on the list in the annex, which MOST publishes and adjusts, need expert re-review organised by provincial or sectoral authorities after the unit's initial review (Arts. 25-34). Units register their ethics committees and listed activities on a national platform and report each year (Arts. 43-45). Emergency reviews are generally completed within 72 hours (Art. 36). Low-risk activities can use a simplified procedure (Art. 22).

Sources

Open the official source https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202310/content_6908045.htm

Secondary source: https://www.most.gov.cn/xxgk/xinxifenlei/fdzdgknr/fgzc/gfxwj/gfxwj2023/202310/t20231008_188309.html

Local copy

Archived. Last attempt 2026-10-18 00:44:40 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/CN-04/2026-10-16/official.html
Retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:06 UTC
SHA-256 37543711142507e9c9a633538585923ce7021e5a5c11aef3f5ff2cb6f64ab3a2
Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/CN-04/2026-10-11/secondary.html
Retrieved 2026-10-11 13:59:58 UTC
SHA-256 4ac2b55420448d2f0f046dd32cc78d3062e55da4d8f6a34e6650c3df7c5503d3

Verification

A
The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched
Recheck of 18 Oct 2026. Stored and read: the notice with the full text of the Measures and the annex in the State Council policy library on gov.cn (copy of 16 Oct 2026), which gives the document number 国科发监〔2023〕167号, the ten issuing bodies, the drafting date (成文日期) 7 Sept 2023, 56 articles and the entry into force on 1 Dec 2023 (Art. 56); and the same notice on the MOST website (most.gov.cn, copy of 11 Oct 2026), which gives the publication date (发布日期) 8 Oct 2023 and marks the document as valid (有效). Version 1's notes gave the publication as 8-10 Oct 2023; only 8 Oct rests on a stored file. Nothing stored shows an amendment or repeal. The English title is a rendering; no English text by a Chinese public body was found. CSET's English translation (cset.georgetown.edu, stored in this run on 18 Oct 2026; translator Etcetera Language Group, translation date 3 Apr 2025, from the MOST text) is recorded as english_version; it renders the title as '(Trial) Measures for Science and Technology Ethics Reviews' and also gives 7 Sept 2023 as the drafting date and 8 Oct 2023 as the publication date.
Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 8 field(s) supported, fixes applied to scope_note.

History

  1. 2026-10-18english_version: – → {"kind": "third-party translation", "url": "https://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-conte — required and missing; CSET's English translation, stored in this run, is a third-party translation (translator Etcetera Language Group, edited by CSET)2026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  2. 2026-10-18scope_note: Not AI-specific; included for its AI-related review list and as the parent frame → Not AI-specific; the existing scope_note stays (AI-related review list and paren — pipeline run 2026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 (recheck), candidate CN-042026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  3. 2026-10-18notes: Signed 7 Sept 2023, published 8–10 Oct 2023, effective 1 Dec 2023 (Art. 56). → Issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine other bodies with a no — publication date narrowed to 8 Oct 2023 (MOST page); version 1's 10 Oct rests on no stored file; Arts. 22, 25-34, 36 and 43-45 added2026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  4. 2026-10-18safety_topics: ["human oversight", "accountability & liability"] → ["human oversight", "accountability & liability", "risk-based classification"] — added risk-based classification: listed higher-risk activities need expert re-review (Art. 25) and minimal-risk activities can use a simplified procedure (Art. 22)2026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  5. 2026-10-18summary: Cross-sector ethics review regime for science and technology activities, run thr → Trial measures that set up ethics review of science and technology activities in — rewritten from the text: Art. 2 scope, Art. 4 (AI units set up ethics committees), Art. 15(5) as a review criterion of the committees rather than a general requirement, and the annex's three AI-related items2026-10-18-recheck-east-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  6. 2026-10-14scope_note: – → Not AI-specific; included for its AI-related review list and as the parent frame — borderline under the include-and-flag rules of issue #22026-10-14-issue-2-scope-notes · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  7. 2026-10-14notes: Signed 7 Sept 2023, published 8–10 Oct 2023, effective 1 Dec 2023 (Art. 56). Not → Signed 7 Sept 2023, published 8–10 Oct 2023, effective 1 Dec 2023 (Art. 56). — scope caveat moved to scope_note2026-10-14-issue-2-scope-notes · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

AI Ethics Review Measures China · In force

Citation

Ministry of Science and Technology, with the Ministry of Education, MIIT, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Health Commission, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Association for Science and Technology, and the Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission. Measures for Science and Technology Ethics Review (Trial) [国科发监〔2023〕167号]. 2023-09-07. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202310/content_6908045.htm. Status: In force; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/CN-04/2026-10-16/official.html retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:06 UTC, SHA-256 37543711142507e9c9a633538585923ce7021e5a5c11aef3f5ff2cb6f64ab3a2. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record CN-04.

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