The Chinese commerce minister also said that they are looking forward to working closely with South Korea to improve investment opportunities and trade partnerships
Reports now surfaced that both South Korea and China have now decided to cooperate and solidify dialogues on semiconductor supply chains. According to Reuter’s report, China’s commerce minister has said that as there is increasing geopolitical tensions in semiconductor industry, concerns over chipset production volume, and national security both the countries have agreed to cooperate with each other.
In the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference that ended on Friday, both South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun and China's commerce minister Wang Wentao met and discussed this matter in detail. The ministers discussed strategies on how to perk-up the stability of the industrial supply chains and reinforcing cooperation in multilateral, bilateral and regional trades. Moreover, the Chinese commerce minister also said that they are looking forward to working closely with South Korea to improve investment opportunities and trade partnerships.
But, the point to be noted is that the meeting statement by South Korea did not highlight anything on chips or semiconductors, but instead they stated that their trade minister had requested China to improve the supply of major raw materials, and also requested for a predictable business atmosphere for the South Korean firms in China.
As per the report by Reuters, an anonymous source who knows this matter has said, “The South Korean side expressed that communication is needed between working-level officials over all industries, not just for semiconductors.” This source did not disclose his name as he is authorized to speak with the media. South Korea is now in the middle of geopolitical recrimination between China and the USA over semiconductors.
A week back, the cyberspace regulator of China stated that Micron Technology, the US based memory and data storage company had failed its network security review and they might ask operators of key infrastructures from purchasing anything from that firm. For more than a year, the USA has been pursuing its allies and several countries to ban export of key technologies and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China, mentioning a slew of reasons that comprise national security. The data from the trade ministry revealed that South Korea exports 40 percent of its chipset to China, while the US equipment and technology are also mandatory for the South Korean chip manufacturers like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
