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China tech shares sink as U.S. export curbs raise chip sector hurdles

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By Josh Horwitz and Jason Xue

SHANGHAI, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Shares in Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group (9988.HK) and Tencent (0700.HK) as well as in chipmakers slumped on Monday, as investors were spooked by new U.S. export control measures aimed at slowing Beijing’s technological and military advances.

The Biden administration published a sweeping set of export controls on Friday, including a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductors made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment.

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The raft of measures, some of which take immediate effect, could amount to the biggest shift in U.S. policy toward exporting technology to China since the 1990s.

Experts said the new rules will have a broad impact, slowing China’s efforts to develop its own chip industry and advance commercial and state research involving military weapons, artificial intelligence, data centres and many other areas that are powered by supercomputers and high-end chips.

The new controls also come at a time when the global chip industry is already facing major headwinds from tumbling demand post-COVID in computers, smartphones and other electronic devices and has warned of weak revenue.

The most immediate impact is likely to be felt by Chinese chipmakers, they said.

Under the new regulations, U.S. companies must cease supplying Chinese chipmakers with equipment that can produce relatively advanced chips – logic chips under 16 nanometers (nm), DRAM chips below 18 nm, and NAND chips with 28 layers or more – unless they first obtain a license.

That’s set to affect China’s top contract chipmakers – Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (0981.HK) and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (1347.HK) – as well as state-backed leading memory chipmakers Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd (YMTC) and Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT).

“The measures will hobble the Chinese chip sector and will scupper numerous growth plans and potentially set back innovation in both the East and the West,” said Danni Hewson, an analyst at AJ Bell.

“There will be plenty of boardrooms hosting top level meetings over the next few days considering the implications of U.S. export controls.”

Chinese foundries have a fraction of the global contract chip market, which is dominated by Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW), but they control about 70% of the domestic market, underscoring Beijing’s efforts to boost self-sufficiency in chips.

In memory chips, industry watchers have pegged YMTC and CXMT as China’s best hopes for breaking into the global market, going neck and neck with top players such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Micron Technology (MU.O).

The new regulations will now pose major hurdles for the two Chinese memory chipmakers, analysts said.

“The advancement of memory will be limited as there is no opportunity to upgrade process equipment, no opportunity to expand production, and the market will be lost,” Gu Wenjun, who leads research at Shanghai-based consultancy ICWise, wrote in a research note.

The blocking of equipment supplies for high-end chip production could also have a cascading impact on simpler chips, analysts said.

Stewart Randall, who tracks China’s semiconductor sector at Shanghai-based consultancy Intralink, said that for NAND chips, the same equipment used to produce 128-layer NAND can also produce simpler 64-layer NAND.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Saturday called the move an abuse of trade measures designed to reinforce the United States’ “technological hegemony”.

U.S. toolmakers now required to halt shipments to wholly Chinese-owned factories producing advanced logic chips include KLA Corp (KLAC.O), Lam Research Corp (LRCX.O) and Applied Materials Inc .

Shares of Lam Research and Applied Materials fell 1.3% and 0.6%, respectively, in U.S. premarket trading.

In advanced AI chips – Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) – which are among the major vendors supplying to China, slipped about 1%, each.

“This could hardly come at a worse time for Nvidia given that it’s already faced a highly challenging period due to supply chain snarl-ups and slowing demand for gaming consoles,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

SUPERCOMPUTERS, DATA CENTERS

The rules also include blocking shipments of a broad array of chips for use in Chinese supercomputing systems which can be used to develop nuclear weapons and other military technologies.

Some industry experts say the ban could also hit commercial data centres at Chinese tech giants. Shares in e-commerce company Alibaba and social media and gaming company Tencent, both of which rely on data centres extensively, dropped 3.3% and 2.5%, respectively.

A steep decline in tech shares led China’s market down on its first post-Golden Week holiday trading on Monday.

An index measuring China’s semiconductor firms (.CSIH30184) tumbled nearly 7%, and Shanghai’s tech-focused board STAR Market (.STAR50) declined 4.5%.

SMIC dropped 4%, chip equipment maker NAURA Technology Group Co (002371.SZ) sank 10% by the daily limit, and Hua Hong Semiconductor plunged 9.5%.

Shares in AI research firm SenseTime (0020.HK) and surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology (002236.SZ), which will be cut off from chips made using U.S. technologies, tumbled 5.7% and 10%, respectively.

The impact on tech shares outside of China was limited on Monday as financial markets in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan were closed for separate holidays.

European tech index (.SX8P) slipped 0.8%, while New York-listed shares of Chinese firms Alibaba , JD.com and Pinduoduo (PDD.O) fell nearly 1.5% each.

Analysts expect the impact on TSMC, the world’s top contract chipmaker, to be limited as most of its advanced chip orders comes from U.S.-based customers such as Apple (AAPL.O) and Qualcomm (QCOM.O), although it generates around 10-12% of its revenue from China.

South Korea on Saturday also expected no significant disruption to equipment supply for Samsung and SK Hynix’s (000660.KS) existing chip production in China.

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Reporting by Josh Horwitz and Jason Xue; Additional reporting by Anisha Sircar and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

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Business

U.S. adds China’s YMTC and 30 other firms to ‘unverified’ trade list

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WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The United States on Friday added China’s top memory chipmaker YMTC and 30 other Chinese entities to a list of companies that U.S. officials have been unable to inspect, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing and starting a 60 day-clock that could trigger much tougher penalties.

The new listings were the first of a slew of new restrictions announced on Friday on exports of technology to China aimed at blocking military advances. The crackdown included curbs on access to chipmaking tools for Chinese firms including Yantze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), as reported by Reuters a day earlier. read more

U.S. senators from both parties have been calling for YMTC, China’s fast-growing chip manufacturer, to be placed on a trade blacklist known as the “entity list.” The company, founded in 2016, poses a “direct threat” to U.S. chip companies, according to the Biden administration.

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YMTC and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

YMTC is under investigation by the Commerce Department over whether it violated U.S. export controls by selling chips to blacklisted Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Its chips also are being evaluated by Apple Inc for inclusion in some of its iPhones in China, a major concern for U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration.

Companies are added to the unverified list because the United States could not complete on-site visits to determine whether they can be trusted to receive sensitive technology exports from the United States. U.S. inspections of Chinese companies require the approval of China’s commerce ministry.

U.S. exporters must conduct additional due diligence before sending goods to entities placed on the “unverified list,” like the 31 added on Friday, and may have to apply for more licenses.

Under the Biden administration’s new policy, if a government prevents U.S. officials from conducting site checks at companies placed the unverified list, Washington will start the process for adding them to the entity list after 60 days.

Entity listing YMTC would further escalate tensions with Beijing and force its U.S. suppliers to seek difficult-to-obtain licenses from the U.S. government before shipping them even the most low-tech items.

Not all the measures announced on Friday were bad news for China. The United States removed a unit of Wuxi Biologics, maker of ingredients for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, from the unverified list. Reuters reported last summer that U.S. officials had been able to conduct an inspection at the Wuxi city site, a stepping stone to removal from the list.

A Wuxi Biologics spokeswoman said the company was pleased the Wuxi site was removed from the list, given the inspection in June. The company looks forward to scheduling an inspection of its Shanghai subsidiary, which also was placed on the unverified list in February, she added.

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Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chris Gallagher, Chris Sanders, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter and Richard Chang

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Business

U.S. aims to hobble China’s chip industry with sweeping new export rules

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Oct 7 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Friday published a sweeping set of export controls, including a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. tools, vastly expanding its reach in its bid to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances.

The rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build on restrictions sent in letters earlier this year to top toolmakers KLA Corp (KLAC.O), Lam Research Corp (LRCX.O) and Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O), effectively requiring them to halt shipments of equipment to wholly Chinese-owned factories producing advanced logic chips.

The raft of measures could amount to the biggest shift in U.S. policy toward shipping technology to China since the 1990s. If effective, they could set China’s chip manufacturing industry back years by forcing American and foreign companies that use U.S. technology to cut off support for some of China’s leading factories and chip designers.

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In a briefing with reporters on Thursday previewing the rules, senior government officials said many of the measures sought to prevent foreign firms from selling advanced chips to China or supplying Chinese firms with tools to make their own advanced chips. They conceded, however, that they have not yet secured any promises that allied nations will implement similar measures and that discussions with those nations are ongoing.

“We recognize that the unilateral controls we’re putting into place will lose effectiveness over time if other countries don’t join us,” one official said. “And we risk harming U.S. technology leadership if foreign competitors are not subject to similar controls.”

The expansion of U.S. powers to control exports to China of chips made with U.S. tools is based on a broadening of the so-called foreign direct product rule. It was previously expanded to give the U.S. government authority to control exports of chips made overseas to Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (HWT.UL) and later to stop the flow of semiconductors to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, the Biden administration applied the expanded restrictions to China’s IFLYTEK, Dahua Technology, and Megvii Technology, companies added to the entity list in 2019 over allegations they aided Beijing in the suppression of its Uyghur minority group.

The rules published on Friday also block shipments of a broad array of chips for use in Chinese supercomputing systems. The rules define a supercomputer as any system with more than 100 petaflops of computing power within a floor space of 6,400 square feet, a definition that two industry sources said could also hit some commercial data centers at Chinese tech giants.

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed the announcement, arguing the rules would “protect our country’s innovations from China’s predatory actions.”

The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents chipmakers, said it was studying the regulations and urged the United States to “implement the rules in a targeted way – and in collaboration with international partners – to help level the playing field.”

Earlier on Friday, the United States added China’s top memory chipmaker YMTC and 30 other Chinese entities to a list of companies that U.S. officials cannot inspect, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing and taking aim at a firm that has long troubled the Biden administration. read more

The “unverified list” is a potential precursor to tougher economic blacklists, but companies that comply with U.S. inspection rules can come off the list. On Friday, U.S. officials removed nine such firms, including a unit of China’s Wuxi Biologics, which makes ingredients for AstraZeneca Plc’s (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine.

The new regulations will also severely restrict export of U.S. equipment to Chinese memory chip makers and formalize letters sent to Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) (AMD.O) restricting shipments to China of chips used in supercomputing systems that nations around the world rely on to develop nuclear weapons and other military technologies.

Reuters was first to report key details of the new restrictions on memory chip makers, including a reprieve for foreign companies operating in China and the moves to broaden restrictions on shipments to China of technologies from KLA, Lam, Applied Materials, Nvidia and AMD. read more read more

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Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Karen Freifeld in New York
Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington
Editing by Alexandra Alper, Chris Sanders and Matthew Lewis

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Business

U.S. considers crackdown on memory chip makers in China

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WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – The United States is considering limiting shipments of American chipmaking equipment to memory chip makers in China including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd (YMTC), according to four people familiar with the matter, part of a bid to halt China’s semiconductor sector advances and protect U.S. companies.

If President Joe Biden’s administration proceeds with the move, it could also hurt South Korean memory chip juggernauts Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS), the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Samsung has two big factories in China while SK Hynix Inc is buying Intel Corp’s (INTC.O) NAND flash memory chips manufacturing business in China.

The crackdown, if approved, would involve barring the shipment of U.S. chipmaking equipment to factories in China that manufacture advanced NAND chips.

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It would mark the first U.S. bid through export controls to target Chinese production of memory chips without specialized military applications, representing a more expansive view of American national security, according to export control experts.

The move also would seek to protect the only U.S. memory chip producers, Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) and Micron Technology Inc (MU.O), which together represent about a quarter of the NAND chips market.

NAND chips store data in devices such as smartphones and personal computers and at data centers for the likes of Amazon (AMZN.O), Facebook and Google (GOOGL.O). How many gigabytes of data a phone or laptop can hold is determined by how many NAND chips it includes and how advanced they are.

    Under the action being considered, U.S. officials would ban the export of tools to China used to make NAND chips with more than 128 layers, according to two of the sources. LAM Research Corp (LRCX.O) and Applied Materials (AMAT.O), both based in Silicon Valley, are the primary suppliers of such tools.

All the sources described the administration’s consideration of the matter as in the early stages, with no proposed regulations yet drafted.

Asked to comment on the possible move, a spokesperson for the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, did not discuss potential restrictions but noted that “the Biden administration is focused on impairing (China’s) efforts to manufacture advanced semiconductors to address significant national security risks to the United States.”

FAST-GROWING COMPANY

Memory chips by South Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo

YMTC, founded in 2016, is a rising power in manufacturing NAND chips. Micron and Western Digital are under pressure from YMTC’s low prices, as the White House wrote in a June 2021 report. YMTC’s expansion and low-price offerings present “a direct threat” to Micron and Western Digital, that report said. The report described YMTC as China’s “national champion” and the recipient of some $24 billion in Chinese subsidies.

YMTC, already under investigation by the Commerce Department over whether it violated U.S. export controls by selling chips to Chinese telecoms company Huawei, is in talks with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to supply the top U.S. smartphone maker with flash memory chips, according to a Bloomberg report.

LAM Research Corp, SK Hynix and Micron declined comment on the U.S. policy. Samsung, Applied Materials Inc, YMTC and Western Digital Corp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CONGRESS ACTS

Tensions between China and the United States over the tech sector deepened under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and have continued since. Reuters reported on July 8 that Biden’s administration is also considering restrictions on shipments to China of tools to make advanced logic chips, seeking to hamstring China’s largest chipmaker, SMIC (0981.HK). read more

The U.S. Congress last week approved legislation aimed at helping the United States compete with China by investing billions of dollars in domestic chip production. read more

Chipmakers that take money under the measure would be prohibited from building or expanding manufacturing for certain advanced chips, including advanced memory chips at a level to be determined by the administration, in countries including China. read more

According to Walt Coon of the consulting firm Yole Intelligence, YMTC accounts for about 5% of worldwide NAND flash memory chip production, almost double from a year ago. Western Digital stands at about 13% and Micron 11%. Coon said YMTC would be greatly hurt by restrictions like those that Biden’s administration is contemplating.

“If they were stuck at 128, I don’t know how they would really have a path forward,” Coon said.

Production of NAND chips in China has grown to more than 23% of the worldwide total this year from under 14% in 2019, while production in the United States has decreased from 2.3% to 1.6% over the same period, Yole data showed. For the American companies, nearly all of their chip production is done overseas.

It was unclear what impact the potential restrictions might have on other players in China. Intel, which retains a contract to manage operations in the factory it is selling to SK Hynix in China, is already producing memory chips with 144 layers at the Chinese site, according to an Intel press release.

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Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Chris Sanders and Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

ASML shares fall on report US wants to restrict sales to China

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ASML logo is seen in this illustration taken February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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AMSTERDAM, July 5 (Reuters) – Shares in ASML Holding (ASML.AS), a key supplier of equipment to semiconductor makers, fell on Tuesday following a Bloomberg News report that the U.S. government wants to restrict the company from selling equipment to China.

ASML has already been unable to ship its most advanced tools to China, but the report said Washington would also restrict the sale of slightly older machines, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

A spokesperson for ASML said the company was unaware of any policy change.

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“The discussion is not new,” the spokesperson said. “No decisions have been made, and we do not want to speculate or comment on rumours.”

ASML’s U.S. shares sank 7.2% in the wake of the report.

Other chip gear makers also lost ground, with Lam Research (LRCX.O) off 3.6% and Applied Materials (AMAT.O) losing 2.4%.

China is ASML’s third largest market, after Taiwan and South Korea, representing around 16% of 2021 sales, or 2.1 billion euros.

ASML has a near monopoly on the manufacture of lithography systems, machines vital for chipmakers such as Intel (INTC.O), TSMC and Samsung. Lithography systems cost hundreds of millions of dollars apiece and use focused beams of light to create the circuitry of computer chips.

Lithography and other semiconductor manufacturing equipment require an export license, as computer chips are considered “dual use” technology, with military as well as commercial applications.

Since 2019, the Dutch government, in agreement with the U.S., has not granted a license for ASML to sell its most advanced machines, which use “extreme ultraviolet,” or EUV, light waves, to Chinese chipmakers.

ASML still sells “deep ultraviolet,” or DUV, machines, to Chinese customers.

The majority of chips worldwide are manufactured with DUV lithography. Restricting their sale to China would be highly damaging for China’s chip industry and would likely worsen a global semiconductor shortage.

In 2021, the U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence — led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — recommended that the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce should push allies to deny China access to top DUV, EUV and related tools.

In a reaction, analysts from Citi said they viewed a total ban on DUV equipment as “highly unlikely” but further restrictions for equipment makers could be tied to China foreign policy “escalations with Russia or incursions into Taiwan.”

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Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Leslie Adler and David Gregorio

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Business

U.S. FCC adds Russia’s Kaspersky, China telecom firms to national security threat list

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WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday added Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp (0728.HK) and China Mobile International USA (0941.HK) to its list of communications equipment and service providers deemed threats to U.S. national security.

The regulator last year designated five Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) as the first firms on the list, which was mandated under a 2019 law. Kaspersky is the first Russian company listed.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the new designations “will help secure our networks from threats posed by Chinese and Russian state-backed entities seeking to engage in espionage and otherwise harm America’s interests.”

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U.S. officials have long said that running Kaspersky software could open American networks to malign activity from Moscow and banned Kaspersky’s flagship antivirus product from federal networks in 2017. Moscow-based Kaspersky has consistently denied being a tool of the Russian government,

In naming Kaspersky, the FCC announcement did not cite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or recent warnings by President Joe Biden of potential cyberattacks by Russia in response to U.S. sanctions and support of Ukraine.

Kaspersky said in a statement that it was disappointed in the FCC decision, arguing it was “made on political grounds.” The move was “unsubstantiated and is a response to the geopolitical climate rather than a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky’s products and services,” the company said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday that the FCC “abused state power and maliciously attacked Chinese telecom operators again without factual basis. The U.S. should immediately stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies.

“China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” it added.

The Chinese companies did not immediately comment.

In October, the FCC revoked the U.S. authorization for China Telecom (Americas), saying it “is subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government.” [nL1N2RM1QE]

The FCC cited its prior decisions to deny or revoke the Chinese telecom companies’ ability to operate in United States in its decision to add them to the threat list.

The FCC also revoked the U.S. authorizations of China Unicom (0762.HK) and Pacific Networks and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet.

In 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile’s bid to provide U.S. telecommunications services, citing national security risks.

Inclusion on the “covered list” means money from the FCC’s $8 billion annual Universal Service Fund may not be used to purchase or maintain products from the companies. The fund supports telecommunications for rural areas, low-income consumers, and facilities such as schools, libraries and hospitals.

The FCC last year also named Hytera Communications (002583.SZ), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology (002415.SZ) and Dahua Technology (002236.SZ) as security threats.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency worked closely with U.S. national security agencies to update the list and will add additional companies if warranted.

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Reporting by David Shepardson and Raphael Satter
Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler

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World

COVID-19 outbreak prompts shutdowns in Chinese manufacturing hub

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People wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walk on a street in Shanghai, China, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song

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SHANGHAI, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Multiple companies have suspended operations in one of China’s biggest manufacturing hubs as local authorities try to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, halting production of goods from batteries to textile dyes and plastics.

At least 20 listed companies have shut operations in virus-hit areas in Zhejiang, an eastern province with a large industrial sector that accounts for around 6% of China’s GDP and where many goods are manufactured for export.

Tens of thousands of Zhejiang residents are in quarantine and some domestic flights have been suspended as a national health official said the outbreak in three cities – Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou – was developing at a “relatively rapid” speed. read more

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The three cities accounted for more than 50% of the province’s economic output of around 6.46 trillion yuan ($1.02 trillion) last year.

Zhejiang reported 44 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms on Dec. 13, official data showed on Tuesday, taking the total to 217 just over a week since the first case was reported on Dec. 6. Prior to the current outbreak, the province had reported just one local case this year.

Companies reporting suspended production on Tuesday included Zhejiang Mustang Battery Co (605378.SS), Guobang Pharma Ltd (605507.SS) and textile dyes maker Zhejiang Runtu Co (002440.SZ).

Ningo-based Mustang Battery said it expected the outbreak to be brought under control very soon, and the production suspension was a temporary measure that “will not have a long-term negative impact on the company’s growth.”

Zhejiang Runtu said all its units in the Zhejiang Shangyu Economic Development Zone (SEDZ), which accounts for 95% of its revenue, had been halted since Dec. 9 and it expected a negative impact on its fourth quarter results.

There are more than 350 industrial enterprises in the zone, which is located near the cities of Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou and Wenzhou.

Ningbo Homelink Eco-Itech Co (301193.SZ), Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co (002915.SZ), Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co (300316.SZ) and Zhejiang Fenglong Electric Co (002931.SZ) have also suspended work in affected areas.

The companies said they halted operations in line with local government orders in Zhenhai district in Ningbo and Shangyu district in Shaoxing, which curtailed all production bar essential manufacturing.

The orders cover all companies in the affected areas, but only listed firms are required to disclose any impact on their business.

Major industries in Zhenhai, which has a port, include manufacturing of precision machinery and chemicals. The district also hosts factories with investments by more than 700 foreign companies including LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) and Toshiba Corp (6502.T), according to the Zhenhai government’s website.

Sinopec’s (600028.SS) Zhenhai Refining and Chemicals, the biggest oil refinery in China, said on Tuesday it was maintaining a high operational rate despite tightened COVID measures. The refinery, which has annual crude oil refining capacity of 460,000 barrels-per-day, is currently processing 60,000 tonnes of crude oil each day, the company said in statement.

More than 50,000 people have been quarantined at centralised facilities across the coastal province of 64.4 million, while a further nearly half a million people were being monitored.

($1 = 6.3631 yuan)

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Reporting by Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith, additional reporting by Roxanne Liu; Editing by Jane Wardell

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