Japan is preparing to spend $7 billion on chip-gear – a whopping 82% increase – as the nation looks to boost its stature in the global supply chain of the semiconductor market.
While Taiwan overall remains the world’s largest spender on chip-fabrication equipment, Japanese boost in spending is higher than that of Chinese, European, and Middle Eastern markets, Bloomberg reported, citing data from SEMI, a global association of chip-making equipment producers.
Japan’s boost in spending also comes as the nation plans to curb exports on crucial equipment needed to manufacture chips. This includes extreme ultraviolet mask-testers, immersion lithography machines, and silicon-wafer cleaners.
The plans have fueled China’s fears that Japan is ultimately propping up U.S. efforts to suppress the Chinese semiconductor industry. Some analysts have forecasted that Japan’s latest moves could restrict Beijing’s access to advanced chip-making technology.
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On Sunday, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang urged Japan to refrain from supporting Washington’s efforts to supreme the Chinese semiconductor industry.
"In the past, the U.S. ruthlessly suppressed the Japanese semiconductor industry, but now it is repeating its old tactics toward China," Qin said in a statement, following a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi in Beijing. "Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you."
China has its own chip foundries, but they supply only low-end processors used in autos and appliances. The U.S. government – starting under then-President Trump – is cutting off access to a growing array of tools to make chips for computer services, AI and other advanced applications.
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Japan and the Netherlands have joined in limiting access to technology they say might be used to make weapons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
