Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- According to the decision, American companies cooperating with SMIC must obtain individual licenses from the US government to supply certain equipment to a Chinese company.

The US Department of Commerce explained this decision by the fact that the equipment sold by SMIC could be "used for military purposes." Earlier, the Pentagon proposed to include SMIC on the "black list" because of the links attributed to the company with the Chinese Armed Forces. The restrictive regime will remain in effect as long as the "US government evaluates the activities of SMIC and its subsidiaries."

According to experts, this decision undermines Beijing's plans for the development of high technologies.

First, today about 50% of SMIC equipment is supplied from the USA. However, against the backdrop of the ongoing Sino-American trade war, the PRC is seeking to reduce its dependence on the United States.

Second, in the implementation of an ambitious plan - by 2025 to independently produce 70% of semiconductors - the PRC relies on SMIC, which is the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the country.

Thirdly, in 2019, the PRC invested US$29 billion in the company. At the same time, experts emphasize that in the semiconductor industry, China is still lagging behind its competitors (USA (Broadcom, Qualcomm), Taiwan ("TSMC"), South Korea ("Samsung").

To close the technology gap, the PRC will take 5 to 10 years to develop the necessary equipment, software technologies and fabricate semiconductors with a smaller topological size.

In general, according to experts, the introduction of restrictions on SMIC was a serious blow to the Chinese semiconductor industry and demonstrated the ability of the United States to restrict the development of high-tech industries in the PRC.