Tech war: China’s chip output shows recovery in March amid US export restrictions on advanced tools
- New industrial output data published by China’s official statistics agency indicates a narrowing decline, or even growth, in chip production
- Amid Washington’s efforts to cripple China’s chip ambitions, Beijing has doubled down on its self-sufficiency drive to boost domestic output
The latest economic data published by China’s statistics bureau points to a recovery in the national semiconductor industry, despite intensifying efforts by Washington to cripple the nation’s ability to produce advanced chips.
China produced 29.4 billion units of integrated circuits (ICs) in March, down only 3 per cent from a year ago and narrowing significantly from the 17 per cent year-on-year drop in the first two months of the year, according to new numbers published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
The March IC output marked the largest monthly production since December 2021, according to previous records, indicating a recovery in China’s chip output.
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The picture appears even rosier when looking at earlier data, which showed that China produced 28.5 billion units of ICs in March 2022. That would indicate a 3.1 per cent growth in IC output last month, rather than a decline.
NBS said in a footnote in its monthly industrial output report that it adjusted headline growth data to reflect changes in the companies included in its samples, which could create small inconsistencies.
For its monthly reports, the bureau tracks businesses with an annual turnover of above 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million). “Every year, new enterprises are added to the sample, while some existing ones are removed,” the agency said.
In the first quarter, for example, NBS said China’s IC output shrank 14.8 per cent from a year earlier, but a comparison with past figures showed only a 10.6 per cent fall.