China says US controls on semiconductor firm break WTO rules

The U.S. decision to cut off a Chinese state-backed chipmaker from U.S. suppliers amid allegations the firm stole intellectual property from a U.S. semiconductor company breaks World Trade Organization rules and aims to protect a U.S. monopoly, China told a WTO meeting on Tuesday.

Last month the U.S. Commerce Department put Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd on a list of entities that cannot buy components, software and technology goods from U.S. firms.

But a Chinese official told the WTO meeting that Jinhua had not yet started production and was far from threatening DRAM manufacturers in the United States, which had said it presented a national security threat. "In our point of view, the real purpose of the U.S. measures is to maintain the monopoly interests of the U.S. DRAM industry," the Chinese official said, according to a transcript of remarks seen by Reuters.