In the shadow of US export controls, China rallies its own chip industry

The U.S. has been using ever-tightening trade restrictions to limit the flow of high-end microchips to China, along with the gear to make them. The goal is to try to keep Beijing behind in artificial intelligence and to prevent China's military from acquiring the best chips. But this chip "blockade," as some see it, has been a rallying cry in China — even as Trump appears poised to loosen it.

Government-backed Chinese firmSiCarrier is just four years old, but it's hailed as a key player on China's "national team" — a group of state-backed companies that are hustling to try to overcome Western tech restrictions.

In the shadow of U.S. export controls, the Chinese government has been doubling down on its pursuit of tech self-sufficiency, pouring upward of $200 billion into efforts to create a modern and self-reliant chip industry.

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