China is making a bold move to ban United States-made microprocessors from Intel and AMD in government PCs and servers, opting for domestic technology over foreign solutions. This ban, announced with little fanfare last year, is not just a policy change but a clear sign of the escalating tech rivalry between China and the United States. Both nations are racing to secure their technological futures amidst mounting geopolitical tensions.
The new guidelines, which came into effect this year, mark a significant push by the Chinese government to reduce reliance on foreign technology. They mirror the United States' own measures to boost domestic production and restrict exports to China for national security reasons.
President Joe Biden is reportedly considering blacklisting several Chinese semiconductor firms linked to Huawei Technologies Co after the company managed to deploy Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation's 7-nanometer (nm) processor for its new phone, Mate 60 Pro.
This overhaul in Beijing's procurement strategy is part of a national push for technological self-reliance in the military, government, and state sectors, known as xinchuang or "IT application innovation." These measures, which target not just microprocessors but also Microsoft's Windows operating system and foreign-made database software, aim to promote the adoption of domestic alternatives in government procurement.
Efforts to comply with the new guidelines are being reinforced at provincial and city levels, with finance ministries issuing numerous notices. While some leeway remains for the procurement of foreign technology, additional steps are required to register and justify such purchases.
The central government has allowed limited continued use of Intel and AMD-powered computers, subject to specific management procedures. Lin Qingyuan, a chip expert, predicts a quicker substitution for server processors, with xinchuang servers expected to make up 23 percent of China's total server shipments by 2026.
Furthermore, the China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center has released a list of approved "safe and reliable" processors and operating systems, all from Chinese companies, including those from Huawei and Phytium, which are on Washington's export blacklist. These approved companies include 18 processor manufacturers utilizing a mix of architectures, including Intel's x86 and Arm, as well as indigenous designs with operating systems based on open-source Linux software.
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