China’s 2024 chip imports surged 10.4% to US$385 billion amid tighter US tech sanctions

Many Chinese firms stockpiled chips ahead of the planned roll-out of more expansive and stringent trade sanctions by Washington

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The total value of China’s IC imports in 2024 was US$385 billion, up 10.4 per cent year on year. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 7:00pm, 13 Jan 2025

Chinese firms rushed to stockpile semiconductors in 2024, driving double-digit expansion of integrated circuit (IC) imports, as the outgoing Biden administration is set to tighten restrictions on China’s access to advanced chips.

China imported a total of 549.2 billion ICs in 2024, a 14.6 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to data published on Monday by the General Administration of Customs. The total value of annual IC imports, or microchips, was US$385 billion, up 10.4 per cent year on year. In comparison, China’s imports of crude oil in 2024 were worth US$325 billion.

The country’s accelerated acquisition of chips underscores unease over heightened tech rivalry between China and the US, with many Chinese firms stockpiling supplies ahead of the planned roll-out of more expansive and stringent trade sanctions by Washington.

The Biden administration is expected to launch a fresh salvo of export controls that partly aim to plug loopholes in measures already in place to limit China’s ability to modernise its military.

Visitors attend the 2024 World Semiconductor Congress in Nanjing, China, June 5, 2024. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Some Chinese companies have managed to circumvent the restrictions by procuring advanced chips from third-party suppliers in countries not covered by the measures.