China is pressing the United States to ease export controls on advanced chips vital to artificial intelligence as part of a potential trade agreement ahead of a possible meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the report said Chinese officials have conveyed to experts in Washington that Beijing wants the Trump administration to relax restrictions on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. These components, which work alongside powerful AI graphics processors such as those made by Nvidia, are crucial for handling data-intensive AI tasks at high speed.
According to the FT, Beijing is concerned that U.S. limits on HBM exports are hindering Chinese technology giants, including Huawei, from developing competitive AI chips.
The White House, State Department, and China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The push comes as successive U.S. administrations have tightened controls on advanced semiconductor exports to China, aiming to curb Beijing’s progress in AI and defense technologies. While the measures have constrained American chipmakers’ ability to fully tap booming Chinese demand—one of the world’s largest semiconductor markets—China still represents a significant source of revenue for U.S. firms.
