As Micron president visits China, chip maker stays silent in US-China balancing act

Sanjay Mehrotra was among a group of American executives visiting China this week, but the memory chip maker avoided bringing attention to it

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Published: 6:30pm, 26 Jul 2024

US chip maker Micron Technology, which Beijing targeted last year with a partial sales ban, has stayed tight-lipped about the company president’s visit to China, reflecting the uneasiness of semiconductor firms as they try to maintain business in the world’s second-largest economy amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Sanjay Mehrotra was among a group of US executives who this week met with top Chinese top officials, including Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Chinese officials asked US businesses to “play a strong role” in the country’s development. Micron and Mehrotra were not mentioned in China’s official readout, but a picture from the Foreign Ministry on Monday showed Mehrotra among the visitors.

Micron also made no mention of the visit on social media, and there have been no public reports about Mehrotra’s visit. In contrast, Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who was also in the group, separately met Shenzhen party secretary Meng Fanli and visited Apple stores in China.

Micron did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief executive officer of Micron Technology, speaks to members of the media during a tour of the company’s headquarters in Boise, Idaho, on June 10, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

Mehrotra’s low-profile trip comes as the Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker tries to maintain its global business amid an escalating US-China tech war.