China urges Japan to halt export restrictions on chips

According to a statement released by his ministry on Monday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao requested Japan to lift its restrictions on semiconductor exports, calling it a “wrongdoing” that “seriously violated” international economic and trade standards.

China’s latest censure of export limits came during Wang’s May 26 meeting with Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Detroit.

Japan and the Netherlands agreed in January to mirror US export rules that will prohibit the sale of some chipmaking gear to China, and have restricted the shipment of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to their neighbour.

The US imposed the restrictions last year aiming to slow China’s work on supercomputers that can be used to develop nuclear weapons systems and artificial intelligence systems.

Japan has not singled out China in its statements about the export controls, saying only that it is fulfilling its duty to contribute to international peace and stability.

Monday’s statement from the Chinese commerce ministry also said, however, that China “is willing to work with Japan to promote practical cooperation in key economic and trade areas.”

On Friday, Nishimura met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and the two agreed to deepen cooperation in the research and development of advanced chips and technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Wang also met Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai while at the summit, criticising U.S. economic and trade policies towards China, including the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that excludes China and aims to provide a U.S.-centered alternative to its influence.

The U.S., Japan and other members of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced nations this month agreed to “de-risk” but not decouple from China, reducing their exposure to the world’s second-largest economy in everything from chips to minerals.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.