Xi's third term to accelerate U.S.-China tech war, affecting S. Korea’s chip industry

'시진핑 3기' 커지는 미중 갈등 속 커지는 반도체 수출 우려 With Chinese President Xi Jinping having secured a third term on Sunday, relations between the United States and China... are expected to grow more tense over access to advanced technology. This is also expected to deal a blow to South Korean chipmakers, which have plants in China, and for whom China is their largest destination for exports. Shin Ha-young reports. On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping secured his third term as leader. In his opening speech at the Communist Party Congress, President Xi emphasized that his goal is to accelerate China’s technological self-reliance and win the battle in key technologies. South Korea’s chip industry is expected to be hit hard by the rising tensions between China and the U.S. because semiconductors are Korea's biggest export to China. In September, overall exports to China amounted to 13-point-4 billion U.S. dollars, with chips taking up 30 percent of the total. South Korea recorded trade deficits with China in the four months from May to August. There are risks coming from the U.S. side as well, which is trying to restrict China's access to advanced chipmaking equipment, which is used in China by South Korean firms Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at their local plants. They've been granted some reprieve by the U.S., though, with the Biden administration giving them an exemption from those rules so they can continue to bring advanced American equipment into China for one year. After that, however, things will get tough, considering the massive amounts they've invested in China. An expert points out that President Xi's third term won't impact South Korean chipmakers in the short term. Rather, the concern is the changing structure of the industry in the future. “President Xi’s third term will not have a huge effect on South Korea’s chip industry immediately. President Xi committed to boosting China's chip industry several years ago. His third term will be about pushing China to increase its self-sufficiency in chips.” #China #United_States #Arirang_News 📣 Facebook :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Twitter :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Homepage : http://www.arirang.com/news/News_Inde... 2022-10-24, 17:00 (KST) He forecasts that in the long term, South Korea's chipmaking system will change so that it takes part in both front-end and back-end manufacturing, instead of only certain parts of the process. Shin Ha-young, Arirang News.