Chinese officials and experts on Thursday slammed the US' recent abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector, against the backdrop of reported new US restrictions on semiconductor software sales to China.
In response to a question on whether the economic and trade teams of China and the US have again held any consultations recently, He Yongqian, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said on Thursday that since the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva, both sides have maintained communication over their respective concerns in the economic and trade fields on various bilateral and multilateral occasions at multiple levels.
Recently, China has repeatedly raised concerns with the US regarding its abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices. China once again urges the US to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva, He noted.
The US administration has instructed domestic companies providing semiconductor design software to stop selling their services to Chinese groups, in a latest attempt to make it harder for China to develop advanced chips, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. A Chinese expert said that the move will backfire, only accelerating China's push for technological self-reliance.
Several people familiar with the issue said the US Department of Commerce had told electronic design automation groups — which include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA — to stop supplying their technology to China, according to the Financial Times.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, the arm of the US commerce department that oversees export controls, reportedly issued the directive to the companies via official letters.
Xiang Ligang, a Chinese telecom industry expert, told the Global Times on Thursday that the restrictions on EDA design software reflects US' attempt to reinforce tech containment against China by blocking upstream segments of the industrial chain. It is a continuation of its unilateralism and technological hegemony. However, such restrictions are likely to backfire.
Xiang emphasized that Chinese enterprises possess strong R&D capabilities. The US-imposed supply cutoff will only drive China to accelerate independent innovation. Rather than hindering China's semiconductor progress, US pressure will act as a "catalyst" to propel the autonomy of Chinese industrial chain, he said.
The reported administrative interventions once again highlight US government's typical market interference. Unilaterally politicizing normal economic and trade cooperation not only violates international trade rules but also undermines the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.
In fiscal year 2024, Synopsys reported almost $1billion in China sales, roughly 16 per cent of its revenue. Cadence said China accounted for $550 million or 12 per cent of its revenue, the Financial Times reported. Synopsys shares fell 9.6 per cent on Wednesday, while those of Cadence lost 10.7 per cent, according to the report.
In contrast, A-share investors on Thursday went long on domestic EDA concept stocks. Shares of domestic EDA companies Primarius Technologies Co and Semitronix Corporation hit a 20 percent daily upper limit.
This latest move is part of US efforts to curb China's development of advanced chips. It follows recent guidance by the US Department of Commerce that, under the pretext of so-called presumed violations of US export control rules, attempts to impose a global ban on advanced Chinese computing chips, including Huawei Ascend chips.
On May 21, MOFCOM condemned the US attempt to globally ban Chinese advanced computing chips, calling it a typical act of "unilateral bullying and protectionism" that seriously undermines global semiconductor industrial and supply chains, Xinhua reported.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian on May 16 slammed the US over a recent announcement by the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which claimed the use of Huawei's Ascend chips risks violating US export controls, as well as the bureau's warning to the public about the potential consequences of training Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) models with US AI chips.
Lin told a routine press conference that the US overstretches the concept of national security, abuses export controls and long-arm jurisdiction, and groundlessly and maliciously blocks and suppresses China's chips and AI industry, which severely violates market rules, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and undermines Chinese businesses' legitimate rights and interests.
China firmly opposes this and absolutely does not accept it. China urges the US to drop its protectionist acts and unilateral bullying, and stop its egregious suppression on China's tech businesses and AI industry. China will take firm measures to defend its right to development and Chinese businesses' legitimate rights and interests, Lin said.
