China’s review of Meta Platforms’ acquisition of artificial intelligence agent start-up Manus signals Beijing’s intent to more tightly police foreign involvement in sensitive technologies developed by Chinese entrepreneurs, as more founders move operations overseas to sidestep geopolitical scrutiny, analysts say.

The Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that it would work with other Chinese regulators to assess whether the acquisition complied with the country’s export controls and technology transfer rules.

The review could become a high-profile test case for China’s equivalent of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law who focuses on AI and the digital economy.

CFIUS, which vets and blocks inbound investment on national security grounds, tightened oversight during Donald Trump’s first term as US president. Since then, China had developed its own framework to review foreign involvement in sensitive domestic technologies, according to Ma.

Facebook parent Meta acquired Manus, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Red Xiao Hong, in late December, betting on its AI agent technology that allowed models to autonomously carry out complex workflows with minimal human intervention.

Dai Menghao, Shanghai-based partner at King & Wood Mallesons specialising in export controls and sanctions, said the AI agent developed by Manus was “definitely something that Chinese regulators could subject to export controls”.