South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix, the world's top two makers of memory chips, have invested billions of dollars in chip factories in China

"It takes huge amounts of pre-emptive investment to be a chipmaker, and it takes five years, 10 years to break even on those investments, so putting predictability into jeopardy makes investments difficult," an analyst said

The development comes at a time when the US is increasingly urging its allies to work together to counter China's chips and advanced technology development

A $2.6 billion share sale, if approved by China’s securities watchdog, would follow a capital raising rush by Chinese chipmakers in the face of US sanctions

"This export restriction is noticeable, but it's not quite as devastating as it could have been," one expert said

The “top secret project” is aimed at realising Beijing’s ambitions of becoming self-reliant in critical semiconductor technology

Washington has asked Seoul to encourage Samsung and SK Hynix to hold back from boosting China sales if Micron is banned as a result of an ongoing investigation

But TSMC is said to be concerned about rules that could require it to share profits from the factories and provide detailed information about operations to access those subsidies

“Intel is welcome to stand committed to the Chinese market and contribute to promoting China-US economic and trade cooperation,” China's vice president said

The Cyberspace Administration of China said it would conduct a security review of Micron's products sold in the country

Japan has seen its share of the global microchip market crash from 50% in the late 1980s to around 10% now

Japan wants to stop its advanced technology being used for military purposes and does not have a specific country in mind, the country's trade minister said