Photo: VCG

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix said on Wednesday that the company is not aiming to scale back its operations in China and has not changed its China strategy, after some media reports suggested that the firm would be closing its Shanghai base and shifting its focus to Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province.

Some media reports in both China and South Korea have said that the firm is planning to shut down its Shanghai operation and start a new business hub in Wuxi, where it already has a semiconductor manufacturing plant.

South Korea's Chosun Daily reported that the company "aims to reduce risks associated with the US' policies towards China."

Asked by the Global Times on Wednesday about whether the company is closing its Shanghai base, a representative said that "the move aims to boost efficiency of the operations in China given that we already have business in Wuxi."

"It's not aimed at scaling back our business in China, and nor have we revised our strategies in China," the representative said in an email to the Global Times, while declining to comment on whether the company would increase investment in its Wuxi plant.

SK Hynix and other global chipmakers that are operating in the Chinese market have been under the spotlight recently, amid efforts by the US moves to stop them from selling advanced chips and chipmaking tools to China.

In October 2023, following complaints from South Korean officials and businesses, the US granted indefinite waivers for SK Hynix and fellow South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics to supply US chip gear to their factories in China.

However, rumors have continued to emerge about SK Hynix's business in China. In January, some foreign media reports suggested that the company had been affected by the US' export control policy and was considering the sale of its Dalian factory.

The company denied these rumors, saying that "we do not intend to sell our Dalian factory in China at all." It also said it would maintain its China operations.

Global Times