（Source：Global Times 2024-09-03）

chip Photo:VCG

The  European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA), a major computer  chip industry group, on Monday reportedly called on the incoming  European Commission to impose fewer chip export restrictions while  focusing on areas where European companies have advantages.

The  move reflects European companies' real need to engage with other markets  including China for growth, Chinese observers said. As one of the  largest consumers of electronics products, China is a valuable market  for European chipmakers, they said, urging the EU to view trade ties  with China from the point of view of its own interests.

The ESIA  said that it acknowledges the need to protect technology and ensure  security. However, a more positive approach to economic security is  required, which is based on support and incentives, rather than a  defensive approach that relies on restrictive and protective measures,  the association said in a statement, Reuters reported.

In a  recent report on key recommendations to the EU 2024-29 political mandate  released by the ESIA, it stressed the semiconductor industry is truly  global and requires a high degree of openness along the supply chain.
Chip  manufacturers also need to be able to scale, meaning serving global  markets, to be competitive. A valid business case often starts with  scales of high-quality parts in the 500 million units' range. The  European market alone will not be able to provide such scale, it said.

As  part of its campaign to contain China's technological advancements, the  US has kept ratcheting up pressure on the EU in recent years. According  to several media reports, the Dutch government plans to further limit  exports from ASML to China by not renewing existing export licenses. The  restrictions mainly involve maintenance and parts delivery for the  second most modern generation of chip machines, specifically top-tier  deep ultraviolet lithography equipment.

China is one of the  biggest importers of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment from the  EU. If the EU does not want to lose the huge profits generated from the  Chinese market, it should reduce restrictions on trade with China, Jian  Junbo, deputy director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at  Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global  Times.

Jian said there is vast room for China and the EU to  deepen cooperation, for example, in green technology, artificial  intelligence, biotechnology and environmental protection. It's  unrealistic for some Western countries to achieve a technology monopoly  through geopolitics, and China's high-level opening-up is in line with  the trend of history.

Fu Liang, a veteran industry expert, told  the Global Times on Tuesday that certain Western countries' restrictive  measures against the Chinese chip industry will only bolster Chinese  enterprises' resolve and confidence to seek core technological  breakthroughs.