China bans export of Loongson chips due to strategic importance and military sensitivity, Russian newspaper reports
- The export ban on Loongson processors based on LoongArch architecture is because the tech is used by China’s military-industrial complex
- Loongson has said it seeks to be ‘independent from the widely adopted Intel-Windows and Android-Arm structures’
China has banned exports of chips using a structure provided by domestic firm Loongson Technology Corp, as the technology is seen by Beijing as “strategically important”, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing an unnamed source close to the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media.
The export ban on Loongson processors based on LoongArch architecture, which is seen as China’s answer to Intel and UK chip design firm Arm, was placed because the technology is used by China’s military-industrial complex, the newspaper reported.
A separate source in the electronics market said that the Chinese government has banned the export of Loongson processors to all countries, Kommersant reported.
Beijing-based Loongson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, and calls to its media department went unanswered.
Loongson began its life in 2001 as a research team under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s apex of scientific and technological research, and was spun out as a separate entity in 2010 to commercialise its chip development research.
02:42
Biden tours new Taiwanese chip-making plant in Arizona, fans US-China semiconductor rivalry
The company launched its self-developed LoongArch architecture last year. It described itself as the only Chinese company that “seeks to be independent from” the widely adopted Intel-Windows and Android-Arm structures, according to a stock exchange filing.