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China curbs exports of key chipmaking components to US
PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
AFP, Beijing
Beijing said Tuesday it would restrict exports to the United States of some key components in making semiconductors, after Washington announced curbs targeting China’s ability to make advanced chips.
Among the materials banned from export are metals gallium, antimony and germanium, Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement that cited “national security” concerns.
Exports of graphite, another key component, will also be subject to “stricter reviews of end-users and end-uses”, the ministry said.
“To safeguard national security interests and fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation, China has decided to strengthen export controls on relevant dual-use items to the United States,” Beijing said.
“Any organisation or individual in any country or region violating the relevant regulations will be held accountable according to the law,” it added.
Washington announced Monday restrictions on sales to 140 companies including Chinese chip firms Piotech and SiCarrier, expanding efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China. These can be used in advanced weapons systems and artificial intelligence.
The new US rules also include controls on two dozen types of chip-making equipment and three kinds of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors.
Beijing swiftly vowed to defend its interests. On Tuesday, China added that the United States had “politicised and weaponised economic, trade and technological issues” as it unveiled its own export curbs.
The moves also restrict the exports of “dual-use items to United States military users or for military purposes”, Beijing said.
China accounts for 94 percent of the world’s production of gallium -- used in integrated circuits, LEDs and photovoltaic panels -- according to a report by the European Union published this year.
For germanium, essential for fibre optics and infrared, China makes up 83 percent of production.
Beijing last year already tightened restrictions on exporters of the metals, requiring them to provide information on the final recipient and give details about their end use. But Tuesday’s rules now ban them outright.
It also previously restricted exports of certain types of graphite -- key to making batteries for electric vehicles.
“The move is clearly a retaliatory strike at the US,” Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP.
“It drives home an important point which is that China is not completely passive (and) there are some cards it can play and hit the US with as well with regards to chips,” Loh added.