China’s imports of chipmaking machines jumped last year as firms ramped up investment in an attempt to get around US-led efforts to hobble the nation’s semiconductor industry.
Imports of machinery used to make computer chips rose 14 percent to almost US$40 billion — the second-largest amount by value on record going back to 2015, Bloomberg data showed.
The increase came despite a 5.5 percent drop in total imports last year, underscoring the importance that the Chinese government and the nation’s chip industry have placed on becoming self-sufficient.
Photo: Reuters
Chinese chip companies are rapidly investing in new semiconductor factories to try and advance the nation’s capabilities and get around export controls imposed by the US and its allies. Those curbs are making it harder for Chinese companies to access the machines needed to make the most powerful chips — and slowing the development of China’s high-tech sector, which is seen as a threat to the US.
China’s imports from the Netherlands soared last year ahead of new export controls, which would further limit the ability of companies such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯) to get the latest machinery.
Last month, lithography equipment imports from the Netherlands jumped almost 1,000 percent from a year earlier to US$1.1 billion as firms rushed to buy ahead of the start of Dutch restrictions this month.
Even before those curbs came into effect, Dutch company ASML Holding NV had canceled shipments of some of its top-of-the-line machines to China at the request of the US government. The cancelations came weeks before export bans on high-end chipmaking equipment came into effect.
However, China’s chip imports suffered their steepest drop on record last year, hamstrung by prolonged economic uncertainties and US export controls.
The value of integrated circuits imported by the world’s largest semiconductor market fell 15.4 percent to US$349.4 billion, the sharpest fall since Chinese customs data became available in 2004 and falling for the second straight year. Shipment volume also declined by 10.8 percent.
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