ASML CEO’s China visit unlikely to give immediate relief to country’s embattled chip sector as geopolitical tensions swirl

This week’s visit by the CEO of Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML to China is unlikely to provide any pain relief for the country’s chip industry, which is being battered by increasingly tough US restrictions on the export of advanced manufacturing tools, according to analysts.

ASML CEO Peter Wennink met with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao on Tuesday. He was told China wants to create an accommodating business environment for foreign companies, where ASML can maintain confidence and help to jointly safeguard the stability of global semiconductor industrial chains, according to a statement by China’s commerce ministry.

Wennink’s China trip has been low profile and the meeting with Wang was the only publicly reported part of his visit. Wennink did not make any speech or accept any Chinese state media interviews, highlighting the sensitivity of ASML’s position in Beijing’s chip development plans.

ASML has a near-monopoly in the manufacture of advanced lithography machines, needed for the production of cutting-edge chips. The Dutch government has blocked ASML from selling its most advanced machines to customers in China, amid pressure from Washington, which wants to restrain China’s semiconductor progress on national security grounds.

The tone of Wang’s remarks was softer than comments by China’s foreign ministry in early March, when spokeswoman Mao Ning accused the Dutch government of interference with normal trade exchanges between Chinese and Dutch firms, after The Hague moved to further restrict exports of semiconductor technology to China on security concerns.