China Slams US for Exercising ‘Sci-Tech Hegemony’ in Semiconductor Export Regulations

"What the US is doing is purely 'sci-tech hegemony,'" the embassy told Sputnik. "This will disrupt the global supply chain and industrial chain, and the final result will hurt itself and others alike," it added, Teletrader reported.

Earlier in the day, the US Commerce Department added 31 Chinese entities to the so-called "unverified list," imposing export controls that will limit the companies' access to advanced computer chips.

The Biden administration on Friday announced new export restrictions aimed at hobbling China's ability to make advanced semiconductors, escalating the tech conflict between the world's two biggest economies.

The move is expected to reshape the interplay between American and foreign chipmakers, potentially undermining China while also heightening the risk of a countermove.

The decision reflects the increasing concern in the US that China is using American technology to advance its military ambitions.

The announced restrictions are the latest in a series of steady tightenings by the US over China’s access to semiconductor and other critical technologies in the last several years.

Washington banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies’ access to US computer chips in 2019; this summer, Congress approved and US President Joe Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which includes US$52 billion in subsidies to the US semiconductor industry; and last month the Commerce Department barred US industry leaders Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices from selling cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips to Chinese firms, according to the South China Morrning Post.