Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
The German government on Wednesday blocked the sale of a chip factory to a Swedish subsidiary of a Chinese company, a decision that comes as Berlin grapples with its future approach to Beijing. The move by the Cabinet follows a recent compromise over a Chinese shipping firm's investment in a German container terminal and a visit to Beijing last week by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The blocked sale was anticipated after German company Elmos said this week that it had been informed the sale of its chip factory in Dortmund to Silex Microsystems AB of Sweden would likely be prohibited. Silex is owned by Sai Microelectronics of China, according to German media. The planned 85 million-euro (dollar) sale was announced in December. Although the proposed deal wasn't very significant financially and the technology involved apparently wasn't new, it had raised concerns over the wisdom of putting German IT production capacity in Chinese hands. Western governments are increasingly wary about China'
South Korean computer chipmaker SK Hynix said on Wednesday it might be forced to sell its manufacturing operations in China if a US crackdown on exports of semiconductor technology and manufacturing equipment to China intensifies. SK Hynix's chief marketing officer, Kevin Noh, raised those concerns during a conference call on Wednesday after the company reported its operating profit dropped 60 per cent in the last quarter from 2021, a decline it blamed on a deteriorating business environment. Global inflation amplified by Russia's war on Ukraine and rising interest rates imposed by central banks to counter surging prices have slowed consumer spending on the kinds of high-tech products requiring computer chips. SK Hynix and other semiconductor makers are also navigating new US restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China. Such limits were in part imposed to prevent use of American advanced technology in China's military development. SK Hynix s