Chinese imports of chip gear hit record $26 billion this year

Chinese imports of equipment to make semiconductors hit a record for the first seven months of this year as the Asian nation’s companies continue to ramp up their purchases in case the US and its allies further block them from buying. 

Chinese firms imported almost $26 billion worth of chipmaking machinery, according to fresh trade data released by China’s General Administration of Customs this week. That surpassed the previous high mark in 2021 and comes as American, Japanese and Dutch officials work on increasing restrictions on Chinese companies. 

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 $2 billion in July for only the second time on record.

Dutch company ASML’s sales to China surged 21% 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. 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% to 10.1 million wafers per month in 2025, or nearly a third of the global industry’s production, after achieving a 15% 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 AI. Those measures include repeated rounds of export controls limiting the sale of advanced chips and equipment capable of making those components.