MOC: China opposes Japan's export controls on chip-making equipment

China firmly opposed Japan's export controls on 23 types of chip-making equipment and urged Tokyo to immediately correct the mistake, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

China reserves the right to take measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

The move is an abuse of export control measures and a serious departure from free trade and international economic and trade rules, the spokesperson said.

While Japan sought public opinions on the export controls, many organizations in the Chinese semiconductor industry and Japanese industry groups and enterprises have submitted comments to the Japanese government.

But the Japanese government did not respond to the reasonable demands of the industry, which will seriously harm the interests of Chinese and Japanese enterprises, seriously damage the economic and trade cooperation relationship between China and Japan, disrupt the global semiconductor industry pattern, and affect the security and stability of the industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson added.