China tells Dutch it wants open supply chains amid US chip curbs

CHINA told the Netherlands it wants to keep supply chains and trade open, a sign Beijing is trying to find room to manoeuvre amid a US push to cut it off from advanced chip technology.

Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra in a phone call on Monday (Jan 30) that his nation sought to “jointly safeguard the stability of international industrial and supply chains, and safeguard an open rather than divisive, orderly rather than chaotic international trade environment”.

Qin also said he hoped ties between the nations would be defined by “openness and pragmatism”, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.

The Biden administration secured an agreement with the Netherlands and Japan to restrict exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China in talks that ended on Friday in Washington, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The agreement, which is aimed at undercutting Beijing’s ambitions to build its own domestic chip capabilities, would extend some export controls the US adopted in October to companies based in the two nations, including ASML Holding, Nikon and Tokyo Electron.

The US campaign has angered China, prompting Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning to say Monday at a regular press briefing in Beijing that Washington is “abusing export controls” which would “destabilise global industrial and supply chains”.

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“Parties concerned need to act with prudence and approach this issue in light of their own long-term interests and the common interests of the international community,” she said.

Mao added that China would defend its interests without going into detail on how that would happen.

There’s been no announcement yet about any talks between China and Japan on supply chains. BLOOMBERG