Beijing approves licenses to export “chip components”
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that some Chinese companies have received export licenses for the elements gallium and germanium used in chipmaking, after Beijing imposed new conditions on exports from August 1.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said at a regular press conference that the ministry has approved the applications of some companies that meet the relevant requirements and is still reviewing others.
The comments came after China’s exports of germanium and gallium elements fell in August, the first month of export restrictions, customs data showed on Wednesday.
This followed a surge in exports of specialty chip miners in July, with foreign buyers rushing to secure supplies before the restrictions came into effect.
That month, China announced export restrictions on eight gallium products and six German products starting in August. It’s the latest episode in an escalating battle between Beijing and Washington over access to materials used to make high-tech microchips.
According to the new rules, exporters of germanium and gallium products must obtain an export license for dual-use materials and technologies, or those capable of military and civilian use.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said it received some applications for export licenses in mid-August.
China’s germanium exports in the first eight months of 2023 reached 36.48 metric tons, up 58 percent from the same period last year, while gallium exports fell 58 percent year-on-year to 22.72 tons. August.
Agence France-Presse told Agence France-Presse that Germany is considering banning components made by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE in its fifth-generation communications networks starting in 2026, in exchange for Chinese moves to control markets related to the chip industry. On Wednesday.
According to the government’s proposals, Chinese elements will be excluded from the “core network” of communications in the country from January 1, 2026, the sources said.
The ban is understood to affect not only new components but also established ones. Sources indicate that the German government wants to start phasing out Huawei and ZTE components from its networks.
There are changes to Germany’s fifth-generation mobile phone networks, which are operated by Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica, that are “of great importance to the German government with regard to security policies,” according to a draft document from the interior ministry. Agence France-Presse.
The document said Germany has “major structural dependencies” on Huawei and ZTE, which in its view require urgent action.
The government’s plan is part of Germany’s strategy to “de-risk” its relations with China, announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in July, the document says. Last July, Germany published a 64-page document outlining a new strategy for dealing with China, its largest trading partner.
The document sought to renew Germany’s stance towards China as a “partner and competitor” while seeking to strike a balance between China and the largest economy in the EU. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said when presenting the strategy: “We want to reduce sensitivity bias in the future,” adding that Berlin is thus “responding to China, which is becoming more assertive.”
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