By Bloomberg News
January 14, 2023, 5:15 AM UTC

China’s imports of integrated circuits declined in 2022 for the first time in almost two decades. 

Imports of ICs fell 15% last year to 538.4 billion units from 635.6 billion units in 2021, according to data from General Administration of Customs released Friday. That’s the first annual drop since at least 2004 when Bloomberg started tracking the data. Imports grew 17% in 2021, 22% in 2020 and 6.6% in 2019.

The decline comes at a time when the US is tightening controls over advanced chip sales to China. The US last year imposed restrictions on the export of some types of semiconductors used in artificial intelligence and supercomputing, seeking to stop China’s drive to develop its own chip industry and advance its military capabilities.

China’s purchases of machines to make computer chips contracted recently amid weakening electronics demand and the US export restrictions. It’s also pausing massive investments aimed at building a chip industry to compete with the US, as a nationwide Covid resurgence strains the world’s No. 2 economy and Beijing’s finances.