Beijing dropped a bombshell when it unveiled a tax and land-use probe into the world's largest assembler of iPhones.

Analysts say the move will weaken export-control measures aimed at curbing Beijing.

The White House has asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers not to fill any market gap in China if Beijing bans Idaho-based Micron from selling chips, as it tries to rally allies to counter Chinese economic coercion.

Beijing announced a cybersecurity review of Micron Technology, a top-tier U.S. chip maker, on Friday. The measure, which many industry analysts had expected, is China's most significant stroke of retaliation against Washington over its campaign to sever China's access to high-end chips.

Suppliers to Dutch chip-making machines giant ASML Holding are considering building plants in Southeast Asia instead of China amid political tensions between Beijing and the West, according to two sources and documents seen by Reuters.

Chengdu has become the latest Chinese city to be locked down as Beijing continues to pursue its controversial "zero-Covid" policy.

Beijing has announced tens of billions of dollars in stimulus measures in a bid to shore up confidence as China's economy is battered by a snowballing property sector downturn and President Xi Jinping's stifling zero-Covid policies.

China's top anti-corruption watchdog has launched investigations against several executives linked to the country's largest chip investment fund, as Beijing steps up scrutiny of the sector in its race for technological self-sufficiency.

Officials in Beijing are on high alert just weeks out from the start of the Winter Olympics, after China's first local outbreak of the Omicron variant spread from the northern port city of Tianjin to the central province of Henan.

Beijing is hunkering down after experiencing more Covid infections in the current cluster than at any time in the past 17 months, with officials asking for events and activities to be moved online.

China will set up a new stock exchange in Beijing, giving the nation's capital and political center more influence in the world of business and finance.

Chinese tech giant Baidu said on Wednesday it had begun mass-producing second-generation Kunlun artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as it races to become a key player in the chip industry which Beijing is trying to strengthen.

Bitmain, China's biggest maker of cryptocurrency mining machines, said it had suspended sales of its products in the spot market to help ease selling pressure following Beijing's ban on bitcoin mining.

Export controls against China will not only fail to halt its technological progress but also hurt the US economy, ASML CEO Peter Wennink said, after trade tensions between Washington and Beijing led to restrictions on the sale of the Dutch company's advanced chip equipment to Chinese firms.

Ant Group is exploring options for founder Jack Ma to divest his stake in the financial technology giant and give up control, as meetings with Chinese regulators signalled to the company that the move could help draw a line under Beijing's scrutiny of its business, according to a source familiar with regulators' thinking and two people with close ties to the company.

Beijing is now home to more billionaires than any other city in the world, according to the latest Forbes' annual rich list.

The Trump administration is poised to add China's top chipmaker SMIC and national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, according to a document and sources, curbing their access to US investors and escalating tensions with Beijing weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) is preparing a $6.55 billion stock offering, as Beijing moves to shore up its semiconductor capabilities amid heightened tensions with the US.

Beijing is pushing back on a decision by India to ban dozens of Chinese mobile apps as tensions between the countries continue to rise.

This month's outbreak of coronavirus in Beijing has prompted concerns that a second wave of the pandemic could upset China's nascent economic recovery.

China's capital has raised its emergency level as dozens of new coronavirus cases emerged and residents were barred from any "unessential" travel outside Beijing following a new outbreak of the virus that is yet to be brought under control.

Beijing has ordered all government offices and public institutions to remove foreign computer equipment and software within three years, in a potential blow to the likes of HP, Dell and Microsoft.

ASML, Europe's largest manufacturer of specialized chipmaking machines, has fallen prey to Washington's desire to curb Beijing's technological ascent and delayed shipment of a crucial tool needed to develop China's semiconductor industry.

The trade war between the United States and China entered a more dangerous phase on Monday, as Beijing allowed its currency to weaken, Chinese enterprises stopped making new purchases of American farm goods and President Trump's Treasury Department formally labeled China a currency manipulator.

Sony is closing its Beijing smartphone plant, a spokesman said on Thursday, as the Japanese electronics giant cuts costs in an attempt to make the money-losing handset business profitable from next year.

US semiconductor companies want no part of any trade deal that calls for stepped-up purchases from China, worried that would give Beijing more control over their industry.

Semiconductor sector analysts believe that China's best chipmakers are as much as a decade behind their international rivals. That is despite long running financial support from Beijing, rising market dominance of Chinese electronics hardware groups and the vastly improved capabilities of China's chip design companies.

Top iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology is preparing to launch a $9 billion chip-making project in China as tensions intensify between Washington and Beijing over China's tech ambitions.

The response came after industry website Jiweinet reported on Friday that the Chinese antitrust agency launched a sudden investigation into the Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen offices of Samsung, SK Hynix Inc and Micron Technology on Thursday seeking certain information.

NXP Semiconductors, the target of a $44 billion takeover by Qualcomm that is awaiting approval by Chinese anti-monopoly regulators, has sold its stake in a Chinese chip-design joint venture.

The US is poised to weigh in on whether the sale of chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor could pose a risk to national security. The possible rub: While the buyer is a private-equity firm with a Silicon Valley address, the money behind the deal comes from Beijing.

Given China's rapid growth as an economic and political superpower, it has been increasingly easy for Beijing to sway countries to its side.

China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup is pushing for an initial public offering of its mobile chip unit, Unigroup Spreadtrum RDA, in 2018, sources told Nikkei Asian Review.

Apple argued in a Beijing court on Wednesday that its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus mobile designs do not copy a Chinese product and should be allowed to be sold on the Chinese mainland.

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

In the latest signal from Washington that it's protecting its semiconductor industry from Beijing, US President Barack Obama on Friday issued an executive order barring a Chinese deal to buy a German semiconductor company's California-based subsidiary, citing national security reasons.

Qualcomm has filed a complaint against Meizu in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The complaint requests rulings that the terms of a patent license offered by Qualcomm to Meizu comply with China's Anti-Monopoly Law, and Qualcomm's fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing obligations.

The intellectual property tribunal said the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus looked too similar to the 100C model made by Shenzhen Beili, a small Chinese brand.

Ms Tsai's presidency is expected to see a change in the relationship between Taipei and Beijing.

A Beijing court has ruled in favour of Facebook and against a Chinese company which had registered "face book" as a separate trademark.