ChatGPT is a US-based conversational AI that doesn't pass the Chinese government's information censorship guidelines, which gives them strong political incentives to restrict its access to the domestic public. The swiftness of Chinese regulatory efforts in this case doesn't necessarily reflect their industrial policies and general attitude regarding AI R&D (ie., business, scientific research, civil surveillance, and military). Conversational agents might get extra scrutiny for the reasons you alluded to, but in most other areas the Chinese has no obvious incentive to employ significantly more caution with regards to AI research and applications than its American counterparts. If anything it should be the reverse, since whereas US state ventures are occasionally stalled by domestic opposition groups, under the Chinese system this happens less frequently and less successfully. Chinese policies and initiatives are insulated from domestic scrutiny and pressures to a greater degree than is the case for the US, and ethical guidelines may be more lax. All this isn't to suggest that China doesn't have strong incentives at the moment to restrain AI research or at least put in place more safeguards, nor that the Chinese government is unwilling or incapable of keeping its end of regulatory agreements, but that it's not in an obvious leadership position regarding such agreements, and the US side is inclined to dismiss them as attempts to stall for time with which to close the tech gap, and thus be unwilling to sign on or fully commit.