China’s Chip Exports Soar 136% as AI Boom Blunts US Curbs: China Watch

China’s chip industry rides the global AI boom

Chinese chipmakers keep raking in cash despite US restrictions

China’s semiconductor exports are enjoying an unprecedented boom as a global investment frenzy in artificial intelligence lifts demand. Despite US controls on advanced chip technology, China’s semiconductor exports surged 136% in September from a year earlier, helped by a global chip shortage and sharply higher prices.

The surge suggests China is strengthening its position across the global AI supply chain, from semiconductors to servers and power equipment, while securing a new growth engine despite Washington’s technology curbs.

China’s chip export windfall

Data from China’s General Administration of Customs, cited by the South China Morning Post on Oct. 15, showed China’s integrated-circuit exports totaled $44.951 billion in September, up 136% from a year earlier. China’s total exports rose 36.3% over the same period to $447.18 billion. Semiconductor export growth was therefore about 3.7 times faster than the increase in overall exports.

The gap between export volume and export value stands out. China exported 32.7 billion chips in September, up just 1% from a year earlier. Export value, by contrast, jumped 136%. That suggests higher chip prices, rather than larger shipment volumes, drove the improvement in exports.

The increase reflects surging demand for memory chips as big tech companies around the world pour money into AI data centers. Tight supply of memory used in AI servers also appears to have pushed up export prices for Chinese chips.

From January through September, China exported a cumulative 275.2 billion chips. Export value reached about $302 billion. China still faces obstacles in advanced manufacturing because access to cutting-edge semiconductor equipment remains restricted. Even so, it continues to supply a broad range of chip products to global markets and retain a sizable role in industrial supply chains.

China draws in the global AI supply chain

Exports of information-technology products used to build AI infrastructure also increased. Exports of computer components rose 2.1 times in the first nine months from a year earlier. Exports of storage-related parts, including solid-state drives, increased 1.3 times. Exports of data-processing equipment, including servers, also climbed 7.2%.

Wang Jun, an official at China’s General Administration of Customs, told a press conference on Oct. 14 that the rapid development of the AI industry is accelerating global investment in computing infrastructure and expanding demand for both finished equipment and intermediate goods. He added that rising electricity demand from large-scale data centers is also boosting exports of Chinese power-related products, including generation, transmission and energy-storage equipment.

China-made AI glasses and robots are also entering overseas markets, broadening AI applications. Wang did not disclose specific export figures for those products.

China’s semiconductor imports are also rising quickly. In the first nine months of the year, imports of memory-related parts into China increased 150% from a year earlier, while integrated-circuit imports rose 56.6%. The gains reflect expanding investment in data centers and AI infrastructure in China, which is simultaneously lifting demand for foreign semiconductors and key components.

Experts say the simultaneous surge in China’s semiconductor exports and imports shows how the global AI investment boom is affecting the country. While China remains constrained in securing advanced chip technology, Chinese companies participating in global supply chains are benefiting from higher chip prices and stronger demand for servers and power equipment.

Still, some analysts say it is difficult to link the jump in export value directly to an improvement in China’s technological competitiveness, given that the increase depended far more on higher prices than on shipment growth.

Kim Eun-jung, Beijing correspondent, Hankyung.com, kej@hankyung.com