China Presses US to Ease AI Chip Export Controls Ahead of Possible Trump–Xi Summit

BEIJING: China is pushing the United States to ease export controls on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips vital for artificial intelligence development as part of a potential trade agreement ahead of a possible summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

According to the report, Chinese officials have conveyed to experts in Washington that Beijing wants the Trump administration to relax restrictions on HBM chips, which are key to performing data-intensive AI tasks quickly and are often used alongside AI graphics processors such as those made by Nvidia.

The White House, the US State Department, and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China is reportedly concerned that current US controls are hampering domestic companies like Huawei in their ability to develop AI chips. Successive US administrations have restricted exports of advanced semiconductors to China in an effort to slow Beijing’s progress in AI and defense technologies.

While the measures have limited US firms’ access to China’s surging AI market, one of the largest semiconductor markets in the world, sales to China remain a significant source of revenue for American chipmakers.

The FT noted that easing export controls could become a key bargaining point in any upcoming trade talks between the two global powers.