BEIJING: China's President Xi Jinping, on an inspection tour of a major industrial province, renewed his call for greater innovation and technological self-reliance, as the United States intensifies curbs on Chinese access to advanced technologies.
"With the rapid development of information technology and the emergence of disruptive technologies at any time, it is necessary to maintain a solid footing on the path of innovation and contribute to the realisation of high-level self-reliance in technology," Xi said. Washington is mulling new restrictions on sales of artificial intelligence microchips, following a sweeping set of export controls last year to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US equipment.The United States is also considering restricting flow of its investments and know-how into Chinese companies working on advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.