Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua has reportedly been seeking a potential buyer or partner to assist it with its operation in exchange for access to its newly-built state-of-art chip fabrication site, according to the Financial Times (FT).
The young Chinese chipmaker is at the heart of China’s plan to develop a domestic semiconductor industry and move up the supply chain.
But the rise of Fujian Jinhua was cut short by the US Commerce Department – it was barred from buying tools and materials from US suppliers, which are vital to its operation. The firm was put on the Entity List, a watchlist with which the US Commerce Department tracks sanctioned companies, last October amid a patent infringement legal dispute with US semiconductor giant Micron.
Now Fujian Jinhua is said to be”eyeing Micron as a potential buyer”, according to an unnamed source cited by the FT.
Apparently, the Fuzhou-based company is also looking beyond Micron. It’s reportedly seeking any foreign peer to provide it with technology and expertise, in return offering access to its s new site, which could save a potential foreign partner the cost of building their own production facilities.
The United States and China have reportedly been trying to resolve the dispute between Fujian Jinhua and Micron as part of a draft trade deal. But the hope of a solution now looks increasingly unlikely to come anytime soon as the trade war is set to escalate after both countries exchange tariff hikes.