China is to issue standards on classifying and labeling digital humans to tighten oversight of AI services that simulate human personalities and engage in emotional interactions.
According to a notice from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the rules will improve the management of digital humans which are extensively used in fields like entertainment, livestream sales, marketing, customer services, education and training, where stealing others’ images and publishing and spreading rumors or other illegal content have been increasingly rampant.
The MIIT issued the draft rules on January 23 to solicit public opinions.
The rules are intended to ensure better supervision and promote standardized management by establishing an ID system for digital humans.
A week after the notification, Beijing granted the country’s first ever digital ID to virtual idol Yuri, created by Hanqing Studio using generative AI technology.
Yuri released an AI-generated video for her debut single “SURREAL” in June 2025 and has over one million social media followers. According to People’s Daily, China has 1.14 million companies related to digital humans with a combined value of over 40 billion yuan (US$5.7b) in 2025.
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