Chinese imports of equipment to make semiconductors hit a record for the first seven months of this year as its companies continue to ramp up purchases in case the US and its allies further block them from buying.
Chinese firms imported almost US$26 billion of chipmaking machinery, fresh trade data released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs this week showed.
That surpassed the previous high mark in 2021 and comes as US, Japanese and Dutch officials work on increasing restrictions on Chinese companies.
Photo: AFP
Chinese purchases from firms such as Tokyo Electron Ltd, ASML Holding NV and Applied Materials Inc have soared in the past year.
During the period, Chinese companies bought more lower-end equipment after the US and its allies tightened controls on their access to the most cutting-edge technology.
That spending spree has helped drive Dutch exports to China to new highs, exceeding US$2 billion last month for only the second time on record.
Dutch company ASML’s sales to China surged 21 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to hit almost half of its total revenue, with sales consisting of unrestricted older systems as Beijing pushes to make more mature types of semiconductors.
ASML is the sole supplier of the most advanced lithography equipment required to make cutting-edge chips. China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯) relied on ASML’s older generation of lithography machines to achieve a technological breakthrough last year, Bloomberg News has reported.
Chinese chipmakers are expected to grow their output by 14 percent to 10.1 million wafers per month next year, or nearly a third of the global industry’s production, after achieving a 15 percent increase this year, trade group SEMI estimated in June.
The US has been tightening rules that would restrict China’s progress in critical technologies including semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Those measures include repeated rounds of export controls limiting the sale of advanced chips and equipment capable of making those components.
Separately, one of China’s most prominent chip gear makers is suing the Pentagon for linking it to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, seeking to get off a blacklist that bars business with US firms.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc (中微半導體) alleged that the US defense agency harmed the company’s business and reputation by adding the Shanghai entity to the so-called Section 1260H list of firms linked to China’s military, the company said in its lawsuit.
The Chinese company competes with top US firms including Applied Materials and Lam Research Corp.
In its latest annual report, the Chinese company said some of its machines are now being used to make chips as advanced as 5-nanometers, or technology only one generation behind the most cutting-edge.
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