A chip manufacture machine Photo: VCG

New data from South Korea show that China was again the top destination for South Korean exports in the first seven months of 2024, thanks to rising shipments of semiconductors, which showed the limitations of the relentless US chip ban against China, experts said on Sunday. 

While the US reportedly plans to further pressure its allies, including South Korea, to expand its multi-year chip ban against China, win-win chip trade between China and other countries will continue and China's domestic chip industry is also on a rapid rise, the experts said. 

Citing data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday that China was once again the leading destination for South Korean products in the first seven months of this year. During the period, South Korean shipments to China totaled $74.8 billion, surpassing the $74.5 billion worth of exports to the US, according to the report. 

Notably, the rise in South Korea's exports to China was supported by strong demand in the semiconductor sector. In the first 25 days of July, semiconductor exports to China soared 25.9 percent year-on-year, outpacing the overall increase of 10.4 percent in South Korea's total exports to China during the same period, according to Yonhap. 

The US has been relentlessly pushing allies to stop the exports of chips and chipmaking equipment to China, in its ill-intended attempt to crack down on China's technological rise. However, the data show that Washington's arbitrary crackdown has not and will not succeed in stopping chip trade or the development of China's chip industry, according to experts. 

"In trying to crack down on China in terms of semiconductors, the US has spared no effort. It has basically tried everything from imposing a ban by itself to forcing allies to execute its policies. It has even asked companies to stop investing in China, and is continuing to expand the ban. However, all of these moves have failed to achieve what the US intended," Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry observer, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

In its latest attempt, US media reports said that the US government is planning to unveil new rules that will expand Washington's power to stop shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from some foreign countries to China. However, shipments from some allies, including Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea, will be excluded, Reuters reported on Wednesday. 

The exemption shows the limitations the US faces in completely stopping such exports, and further expanding the ban will only hurt the companies in the US and its allies, Ma said. 

"Washington's chip crackdown against China has undermined the scale of the chip market, which puts huge pressure on semiconductor companies. The move involves both huge risks and high levels of investment. The US is hurting itself too," Ma said.