Preparing for Western Sanctions... China Imports Record-High Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment in June-July

As the United States and its allies tighten semiconductor export restrictions on China, it has been revealed that China's imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment have surged to an all-time high this summer.

On the 25th (local time), the US IT media outlet Tom's Hardware reported that China has imported a record amount of semiconductor equipment from abroad, mainly from the Netherlands and Japan, over the past two months.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the import value of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in June and July this year reached $5 billion (approximately 6.6 trillion KRW). This represents an increase of more than 70% from $2.9 billion during the same period last year. A significant portion of the imports came from the Netherlands and Japan.

This appears to be a move to counter the US semiconductor regulations. The US had previously implemented control measures in October last year that effectively banned the export of advanced semiconductor equipment to China.

The Netherlands and Japan, recognized for their technological prowess in the semiconductor equipment industry, have also agreed to participate, though there is still a time lag. Japan began enforcing strengthened export controls on the 23rd of last month, requiring individual permits for the export of 23 items including advanced semiconductor lithography and cleaning equipment. The Netherlands is also scheduled to implement measures from the 1st of next month requiring domestic semiconductor equipment companies to obtain government approval when exporting certain semiconductor production facilities.

Since there is no guarantee of obtaining import permits from these governments, and even if permits are granted, the process may take a long time, it is analyzed that China aims to import as much equipment as possible before the regulations take effect.

A significant portion of the products imported in June and July consisted of lithography machines (scanners) from ASML, the world's largest lithography equipment manufacturer based in the Netherlands, as well as etching and wafer coating equipment from Japan.

These pieces of equipment are reported to have been sold not only to companies such as SMIC (Zhongxin Guoji), China's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturer), and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), but also to small-scale manufacturing lines recently established with support from local Chinese governments.

Chinese companies are expected to increase production of older semiconductor generations that are not subject to Western regulations using these imported pieces of equipment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.