Beijing’s appetite for US semiconductors has surged in recent months, with purchases reaching US$1.11 billion in October – a 60 per cent increase compared with the same period last year, according to customs data released on Wednesday.
Over the first 10 months of the year, China imported US$9.61 billion of microchips from the US, up 42.5 per cent year on year. Since June, China’s monthly chip purchases from the world’s largest economy have consistently surpassed US$1 billion.
“China has been increasing the imports of chips and chipmaking machinery in anticipation of the potentially heightened US chip sanctions,” said Liang Yan, a professor of economics at Willamette University in the US state of Oregon.
Without China’s demand, it is difficult for chip production to be profitable and sustainable
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