China’s AMEC surges on being dropped from US blacklist after legal threat

Investing.com– Shares of Chinese chipmaking equipment maker AMEC rose sharply on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Defense removed the firm from a U.S. blacklist over its alleged ties to the Chinese military. 

AMEC, formally known as Advanced Micro Fabrication Inc (SS:688012), surged nearly 4% in Shanghai trade to 198.40 yuan. 

The Pentagon said the firm and IDG Capital had been removed from the blacklist in an amendment released on Wednesday. The blacklist covers “Chinese military companies,” mainly entities the U.S. has accused of supplying the People’s Liberation Army. 

AMEC had strongly opposed this categorization, and had sued the U.S. government in August to be excluded from the list. 

AMEC had been previously added to the list in January 2021 before being removed from the list by June 2021. It was then added back to the list at the beginning of 2024. 

Other companies on the list include electronics giant Huawei, by far the most high-profile addition, as well as top Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:0981) and its subsidiaries. 

AMEC, along with SMIC, is a key player in China’s chipmaking ambitions, and accounts for a large portion of the country’s foundry capacity. The company is partially state-owned, and was publicly listed in 2019. 

China is racing to boost its local chipmaking capabilities, after the country was cut off from advanced U.S. chipmaking technologies to stymie Beijing’s access to artificial intelligence.