<span>STORY: China increased controls on imports of US chips, including those made by Nvidia.</span><span>This is according to a report published by the Financial Times on Friday.</span><span>Sources state that customs officials have been sent to major ports to carry out strict inspections.</span><span>The move comes as Beijing focuses on promoting domestic semiconductors.</span><span>According to the FT, the checks initially focused on Nvidia chips intended to comply with US export restrictions to China.</span><span>However, it is stated that these limits have since been expanded to include all advanced semiconductor products that can exceed these limits.</span><span>China’s access to Nvidia’s world-leading chips has been a major source of tension between Washington and Beijing.</span><span>The FT said at least $1 billion of the firm’s advanced silicon was smuggled into the country in the three months from May.</span><span>This contradicts the allegedly modest demand for a chip design that Nvidia is allowed to sell there.</span><span>While Huawei and other local companies have made progress in recent years, Reuters sources at Chinese tech firms tell US chips are still thought to be outperforming.</span><span>In August, Donald Trump floated the possibility of allowing Nvidia to resell its most advanced products in China, but there has been no official announcement of a change in policy since then.</span>
