China’s chip exports nearly doubled in the first half of the year, customs data shows, as a global AI boom cemented computing hardware’s place as a key economic growth engine.
In the first six months of this year, China exported 179.44 billion integrated circuits (ICs) worth a total of US$177.28 billion – up more than 96 per cent year on year – according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
The surge in IC exports was one of the key drivers behind China’s double-digit export growth in the first half of the year, alongside robust overseas demand for industrial robots and other hi-tech products, underscoring the country’s shift towards technology-led export growth despite an increasingly challenging global trade environment.
“The export growth was fundamentally driven by precisely matching ‘Made in China’ [products] with diverse global demand,” Wang Jun, a vice-minister of customs, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Beijing has been promoting the adoption of domestically designed chips as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s semiconductor self-reliance, even as it recently approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 graphics processing units – a coveted option for training artificial intelligence models – to a handful of Chinese tech companies.
Emerging AI technology and its application have become one of the biggest trade growth drivers, with exports of automatic data processing machines and parts, which include computers, servers, memory and other computing components, jumping 41.3 per cent to US$138.08 billion in the first half of the year.
Global AI boom sees China’s chip exports nearly double in first half of year
