China urges Japan to abide by WTO rules amid semiconductor export restrictions

China’s Vice Commerce Minister, Wang Shouwen, has expressed his concerns over Japan’s plans to impose export restrictions on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. By restricting the flow of cutting-edge technology to prospective rivals, these limitations seek to defend national security interests.

This month in Beijing, Wang met with the Japanese ambassador, Hideo Tarumi, and brought up the subject, urging Japan to abide by World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in order to preserve the stability of global supply networks.

According to media reports, Japan and the Netherlands agreed in January to join the US in limiting the shipment of chipmaking equipment to China that might be used to produce chips smaller than 14 nanometers, but they chose not to publicly disclose the agreement to avoid upsetting Beijing at the time. But with Japan’s declaration that they will impose export restrictions on semiconductor equipment in March, it seems like they are aligning their technology trade restrictions with US attempts to restrict China’s capacity to produce sophisticated chips.