Tech war: China’s semiconductor industry weathers tough year amid tighter US sanctions | South China Morning Post

China’s semiconductor sector weathered a tough year that saw an escalation of US tech sanctions that restricted its access to advanced chip making tools and artificial intelligence (AI) processors, although industry spirits were buoyed by a breakthrough from local tech champion Huawei Technologies. Six weeks after sanctions-hit Huawei staged a surprise comeback with a 5G smartphone based on a 7-nanometre (nm) processor manufactured by Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), Washington ratcheted up its China export controls to cover a slew of process gear needed for semiconductor wafer fabrication, including lithography, etching, deposition, implant and cleaning. The latest rules also came after successful US efforts since January to woo Japan and the Netherlands to join it in restricting exports of advanced semiconductor tools to China, moves aimed at curbing Beijing’s ability to leverage foreign tech for military applications. The US moves exposed weak l

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