Dutch govt urged to resolve chip row

China has urged the Dutch government to demonstrate a genuine willingness to cooperate with the nation and promptly put forward substantive proposals to resolve the issues regarding Nexperia, a Chinese-owned semiconductor company based in the Netherlands, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

Speaking at a weekly news conference in Beijing, ministry spokesman He Yadong said that after China agreed to the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs' request to send officials to China for consultations on the matter, the Chinese side called on the Netherlands to take concrete actions to swiftly and effectively restore the security and stability of the global semiconductor industrial and supply chains.

Noting that the Netherlands' handling of the Nexperia case has disrupted the global semiconductor supply chain, China announced on Nov 1 that it would grant export exemptions for eligible orders to help stabilize supplies.

During his video conference with Katherina Reiche, Germany's minister for economic affairs and energy earlier this week, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao emphasized that the root cause of the issue lies in the improper intervention by the Dutch government in corporate internal affairs.

The Dutch side is responsible for the disruption and instability in the global semiconductor supply chain, said Wang.

Nexperia is a subsidiary of Wingtech Technology, a Shanghai-listed company.

He, from the Ministry of Commerce, also responded to a question regarding agricultural trade with the United States, saying China has released information on the arrangements for the China-US economic and trade consultations held in Kuala Lumpur, which outlined the main outcomes and consensus reached, including those related to agricultural trade.

"China is an important participant in global agricultural trade and will continue to uphold an open and cooperative approach and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with its global trading partners," he said, adding that China is willing to work with other countries to safeguard an open, stable and sustainable global trade system.

The commerce official further reiterated that China conducts export controls on rare earth-related items in accordance with laws and regulations.

China is committed to safeguarding national security and interests and fulfilling its international nonproliferation obligations, while also working to maintain the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, He said.

With China's policy environment and supply chain advantages continuing to strengthen, foreign companies are stepping up investment and introducing more products tailored to the Chinese market.

US-based Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co plans to introduce more sport utility vehicle tires into the Chinese market in the years ahead.

Nathaniel Madarang, Goodyear's president for the Asia-Pacific region, said that China's technological breakthroughs are creating a vibrant ecosystem for foreign firms.

This momentum — driven by scale, speed and integrated supply chains — offers multinationals access to top research and development talent, co-innovation partnerships and a vast tech-savvy market, he said.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn