China Hits Pause on Helium Exports as Middle East Tensions Intensify

Beijing: China announced on Friday a temporary export ban on helium, effective immediately, as resumption of military ​conflict in the Middle East threatens ​to trigger new shortages of the ⁠gas critical for chip manufacturing.

​Earlier this year, the U.S.-Israeli war on ​Iran led to helium shortages, disrupting companies globally, including in China, where the AI industry ​increasingly relies on domestic chips ​for training and running AI models. Helium is ‌essential ⁠for heat management in semiconductor production.

The helium ban is the latest example of Beijing seeking to prevent domestic shortages ​of critical ​materials ⁠by curbing exports. Previously, it imposed similar measures on fuel, ​fertilisers and sulphuric acid.

China is ​also ⁠looking to boost domestic chip manufacturing capacity and reduce the industry's dependence ⁠on ​cutting-edge Nvidia semiconductors that ​fall under U.S. export controls.