The Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress released, on 14 July 2021, its draft Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Artificial Intelligence Industry Promotion Regulation and is requesting public comments on the same. In particular, the draft regulation outlines key concepts including artificial intelligence ('AI'), its scope of application, and governance principles and measures. More specifically, the draft regulation states that it will apply to the municipality's activities related to AI technology research and the use of AI technology to provide products and services.

In relation to governing principles and measures, the draft regulation stipulates that the city's AI industry follows the principles of harmony, fairness and justice, tolerance and sharing, and respect for privacy, among other things. In addition, the draft regulation provides that AI enterprises must incorporate compliance with ethical norms into their professional norms requirements, and incorporate ethical safety risk education into the content of their induction and on-the-job training.

Finally, the draft regulation requires organisations or individuals engaged in AI research and application to, among other things, abide by the AI ethical safety regulations, fully understand the AI ethical safety risks, conduct relevant research, and evaluate ethical safety risks including:

• the risk that the behaviour and influence of AI exceeds the predetermined, understood, and controllable range, and will have a negative impact on social value and other aspects;
• unreasonable use, including risks caused by abuse and misuse;
• risks of infringement or negative impact on citizens' basic rights, including personal, property, privacy, etc.;
• the judgment of a specific group affects fairness and justice, and causes the risk of rights infringement or negative impact; and
• risks of negative impacts on social trust and social value due to AI products and services.

Public comments can be submitted via email at [email protected] until 30 July 2021.

You can read the press release and the draft regulation here, both only available in Chinese.

UPDATE (12 September 2022)

Congress passes regulation on AI industry promotion

The Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress announced, on 8 September 2022, that it had passed the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Artificial Intelligence Industry Promotion Regulation which will enter into effect on 1 November 2022. In particular, the regulation requires the establishment of a special AI governance agency, stipulates that the municipal government establish an AI ethics committee, and accelerates the formulation and implementation of AI ethics and safety norms, among other things.

You can read the press release, only available in Chinese, here.