China has expressed dissatisfaction with the United States over the latest restrictions on chip processing, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. This follows the actions of the Biden administration which announced new measures to limit Beijing's access to advanced technology.
The United States has stated that it does not want to hinder China's economic development, and China hopes that the United States will adhere to this position rather than saying one thing and doing another, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
On Tuesday, Washington announced plans to halt shipments of chips to China, including more advanced artificial intelligence chips designed by Nvidia and others.
They also restricted access to various chips and more sophisticated chipmaking equipment to more countries including Iran and Russia, and imposed restrictions on Chinese chip designers such as Moore Threads and Biren.
China's CSI Semiconductor Index fell 1.4% on Wednesday after the announcement, while the STAR Chip Index lost 1.2%. An index tracking China-made intelligence companies closed 1.8% lower after hitting a nine-month low. Artificial intelligence stocks were hit harder after the United States announced additional restrictions on Nvidia's chip exports to China, UBS said in a note to clients.
Yang Wang, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, said he expected the ban to affect China's artificial intelligence industry only to a limited extent because most industry players had prepared for the ban and stockpiled chips. However, the impact may be more pronounced in the medium to long term and could cause the gap between China and global peers in artificial intelligence to widen in the coming years, he added.
While Nvidia will not be able to sell some artificial intelligence chips to China, the new rules will also prevent the latest technology from being used to produce chips designed by two of its chosen rivals, Biren and Moore Threads, which are companies founded by former Nvidia employees who have good financial resources.
Biren said on Tuesday that the company was assessing the possible impact and would appeal to the US government to review the decision. Moore Threads on the other hand is communicating with all parties involved and assessing the impact.
