Chinese chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) Ltd denied a media report that it had participated in emergency meetings convened by China’s industry ministry to discuss the impact of U.S. sanctions.
The company in a statement late on Thursday described the report as “false and sinister,” adding that the report had damaged its corporate image and would have serious adverse effects on the semiconductor industry environment at home and abroad.
Bloomberg News reported that YMTC, along with a number of other Chinese chip companies, met with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to discuss the impact of recent sanctions from Washington on China’s chip industry.
According to the Bloomberg report, many of the participants at the meetings argued that the U.S. curbs spell doom for their industry, as well as China’s ambitions to untether its economy from American technology.
This month, the U.S. Department of Commerce enacted a set of restrictions on Chinese chip companies that prevent supercomputing organizations from obtaining advanced artificial intelligence chips, bar Chinese chip manufacturers from obtaining advanced manufacturing equipment, and forbid U.S. passport holders from working at Chinese companies making advanced chips.
Experts say the sanctions, which were passed just before China’s 20th Party Congress, will pose a major hurdle for China’s domestic chip industry, which has been a key priority for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Reuters