Tsinghua Unigroup has signed an agreement with the government of the Chinese city of Chongqing and Sino IC Capital to set up an integrated circuit (IC) investment firm, which will invest up to $100 billion in the Chinese state chipmaker's IC sites over the next decade.

Samsung Electronics has decided to cooperate with the Chinese government to develop next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence (AI). With China having been putting pressure on Samsung Electronics due to a rise in the price of memory chips supplied to Chinese smartphone makers, some market watchers say that the partnership can settle a series of conflicts between the two.

China will fill 15% of its semiconductor needs in 2020 and perhaps 20% in 2022. That's significant growth, but far from the targets of 40% in 2020 and 70% in 2022 that the China government has set.

In 2006 the Chinese government allowed Google to establish Google.cn for Chinese internet users. In return, Google agreed to scrub results of content that the government found objectionable. The deal held until 2010, when Google decided it could no longer agree to such terms. Within hours, the site was blocked and Google's search business on the mainland was dead.

If Canyon Bridge Capital Partners (Palo Alto, Calif.) succeeds in purchasing Imagination Technologies without a hitch, it will be the very first time the Chinese government-backed buyout fund has closed any deal since the firm was founded in 2016.

Imagination Technologies, the Hertfordshire-based maker of mobile graphics processors, agreed a sale to Canyon Bridge, which is backed by state-owned Chinese fund Yitai Capital, in a deal valuing the British chipmaker at about GBP550 million (US$744 million).

A China-backed firm whose deal to buy an American semiconductor company has stalled before a US government panel is taking the unusual step of going public with its frustrations, saying China-bashing in the US is holding up the acquisition.

Imagination Technologies has become a takeover target for a private equity fund backed by the Chinese government.

NXP Semiconductors will spend about US$22 million to expand manufacturing at its fabs in Texas and Arizona to make secure ID chips for US government programs, the company said.

Toshiba's plan to divest its memory chip business has Japanese corporate leaders worried that critical information technology could leak to foreign companies - particularly those in China.

The government is considering urging struggling Toshiba not to sell its semiconductor business to a Chinese or Taiwanese company, sources said March 22.

A joint venture led by Qualcomm and the Brazilian government will see the launch of a semiconductors factory producing high-complexity equipment. The consortium, which also includes semiconductor manufacturing firm ASE Group, is predicted to make a total investment of $200m in the initiative.

The Japanese government said it was not considering steps to support embattled Toshiba and will share information with Washington on developments involving the firm and its US nuclear unit Westinghouse.

The Japanese government, fretting over the future of Toshiba's flagship memory chips unit, is prepared to block a sale to bidders it deems a risk to national security, sources said, a stance that gives US suitors a major advantage.

Lattice Semiconductor has moved a step closer to being acquired by an investment firm backed by China's central government, announcing Tuesday (Feb. 28) that its shareholders have approved the terms of the $1.3 billion deal.

Infineon does not expect to be able to salvage its $850 million purchase of Cree's Wolfspeed Power, which is under US scrutiny over unspecified government security concerns, the German chipmaker said on Thursday.

John Solomon, hired by Apple to sell its products to big businesses and government, has left his position, the company said on Tuesday.

Apple is nearing a deal to manufacture its products in India, according to a senior government official, as the company seeks to boost its sales in a market that is home to more than 1.2 billion people.

China's government has conveyed its concern over Foxconn Technology Group billionaire Terry Gou's plan to expand the Apple assembler's operations in the US after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, people familiar with the matter said.

Two senior China executives defended the country's big bet on its semiconductor industry here a week after a White House report called for international action against practices it called unfair. Executives from fab and capital equipment companies said the China government is not being unfair in the way it supports its still-infant industry.

The Obama administration is finalizing a study that could lead to restrictions on Chinese investment in the US semiconductor sector.

South Korea's antitrust regulator slapped a record KRW1.03 trillion ($853 million) fine on Qualcomm for violating antitrust laws, the latest in a string of government actions that threaten the US chipmaker's most profitable business.

Apple Inc. is discussing with the Indian government the possibility of manufacturing its products in the country, according to two senior government officials, as the company seeks to expand its sales and presence in the South Asian nation.

When a Beijing regulator recently ruled against Apple in a patent dispute, it handed a victory to a Chinese company that barely exists.

Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a buyout fund that agreed to acquire US-based chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor for $1.3 billion earlier this month, is funded partly by cash originating from China's central government and also has indirect links to its space program, Chinese corporate filings show.

For the second time in a little more than a year, the secretive US agency that vets global deals on national-security grounds is objecting to a Chinese takeover of a European company.

Massive government investment in China's semiconductor industry risks distorting the global market for integrated circuits, leading to damaging overcapacity and stifling innovation, US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has warned.

In a surprise move on Monday, the German authorities withdrew approval for the takeover of a domestic semiconductor firm by a Chinese bidder, a deal that was set to be an emblem of a new push by Chinese companies to acquire cutting-edge technology businesses and a sign of Berlin's tolerance for such moves.

Europe needs to wake up to the fact that its best technology companies are being snapped up by overseas buyers at a rapid rate, and to decide whether its laissez-faire approach to these strategic takeovers is sensible.

Samsung and the South Korean government launched separate investigations last week to find the cause of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that caught fire in several instances across the globe.

Japan's industry minister said the government would consider divesting its stake in a money-losing maker of smartphone displays unless the company can demonstrate it is more than just a commodity supplier to Apple.

Japan's government has warned that Brexit could result in the country's firms moving their European head offices out of Britain.

The Taiwan government has appointed Audrey Tang, a transgender software developer and self-described "civic hacker," to its executive council to head digital policy.

An Associated Press investigation has found South Korean authorities have, at Samsung's request, repeatedly withheld from workers and their bereaved families crucial information about chemicals they were exposed to at its computer chip and LCD factories. Sick workers are supposed to have access to such data through the government or the courts so they can apply for workers' compensation from the state. Without it, government officials commonly reject their cases.

Tesla's offer represented about half of SolarCity's value a year ago, a tumble reflecting the solar company's slowing growth, complex financial structure and the increased scrutiny of government incentives for rooftop solar.

Tsinghua Unigroup Chairman Zhao Weiguo will be president of a new holding company for XMC called Yangtze River Storage Technology Co., people familiar with the matter said. Tsinghua Unigroup will own more than 50% of Yangtze River Storage, with other stakes held by the national chip fund and a fund backed by the Wuhan city government, they said.

Gamers in Japan, home of Nintendo's Pokemon, are still impatiently awaiting the launch of the smash-hit Pokemon GO game but the government is already preparing for an invasion of little cartoon monsters, issuing a safety warning.

German robotics maker Kuka is on the brink of agreeing to an investor agreement with Chinese bidder Midea that includes a long-term commitment to existing headquarters, factories and jobs, a source close to the negotiations said.

The US government has extended through August 30 a reprieve to ZTE on tough export restrictions imposed on the Chinese smartphone maker in March for allegedly breaking sanctions against Iran, the Commerce Department said on Monday.