Chinese authorities have reportedly instructed the country’s major telecom operators—including China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom—to remove foreign-made semiconductors from their networks by 2027 as part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on overseas technologies.
The order specifically targets chips from US manufacturers such as Intel and AMD, which have been widely used across Chinese telecom infrastructure.
Issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the directive places considerable pressure on both domestic operators and foreign chip suppliers. Intel and AMD stand to lose meaningful revenue if the mandate is enforced: the Chinese market accounts for a notable share of each company’s total earnings.
This move echoes earlier tensions between the US and China over telecom equipment and national security. It recalls the decision by the US Federal Communications Commission four years ago to bar certain Chinese vendors from US networks amid concerns their equipment could be exploited for intelligence purposes—an allegation firms such as Huawei have repeatedly denied.
Similar concerns have driven restrictions elsewhere. In the UK, for example, Huawei equipment must be removed from 5G networks by 2027, with purchases of new Huawei gear banned since the end of 2020.
Transitioning away from foreign semiconductors will create both technical and financial challenges for China’s telecom sector, comparable to the costs and complexity US carriers faced when removing restricted vendors’ equipment. In the US case, carriers sought reimbursement well beyond the initial support fund established to offset replacement costs.
The directive aligns with China’s wider agenda of technological self-reliance. In response to export and trade controls that limit access to advanced chipmaking and processing technologies, Beijing has accelerated efforts to develop domestic semiconductor capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
Chinese companies, including Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), have advanced their work on higher-end silicon technologies. Huawei is reportedly building a research and development facility outside Shanghai focused on advancing indigenous chipmaking and related technologies for telecommunications and other sectors.
The 2027 deadline to phase out foreign semiconductors from telecom infrastructure marks a major milestone in China’s push for technological independence and challenges the historic dominance of Western semiconductor vendors in the global telecom market.
(Photo by Aron Visuals)
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