Chinese-owned semiconductor plants had acquired an estimated 343 immersion deep ultraviolet lithography systems by early 2026, according to a report that highlights the equipment China obtained before Dutch export controls tightened.
The systems are made by ASML, the Dutch company that dominates the market for immersion deep ultraviolet, or DUV, lithography tools. Such machinery is used to imprint circuit patterns on silicon wafers during chip production. The Centre for Technology & Statecraft (CTS), a Washington research group established in August, said the tools can be adapted to make 7-nanometre-class logic chips and advanced memory for artificial intelligence processors.
The report, published in late September, adds detail to a central concern for US officials seeking to limit China’s ability to manufacture advanced semiconductors. It was co-authored by Nicholas Brown, a former US export control official, and Saif Khan, a former White House and commerce department technology policy adviser.
About 270 of the machines acquired by Chinese-owned plants were ASML’s Twinscan NXT:1980i immersion DUV systems, the CTS report said. Chinese fabrication plants spent over US$13 billion to acquire about 90 NXT:1980i machines in 2024. They acquired another 89 of the same model in 2025.
The pace of those purchases came as the Netherlands expanded licensing requirements for ASML’s DUV equipment. In September 2023, the Dutch government began requiring export licences for the NXT:2000i and more advanced immersion DUV systems. It extended the requirement to the NXT:1980i in September 2024.
ASML’s sales figures show a marked fall in China’s share of its shipments after those measures took effect. China accounted for 41 per cent of ASML’s net system sales by shipment destination in 2024. That share fell to 33 per cent in 2025, then to 19 per cent of ASML’s total sales in the first quarter of 2026 and 14 per cent in the second quarter of 2026.
The CTS report places the earlier purchases in the context of a widening effort to constrain China’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity. The bipartisan Match Act was introduced in April, while the report’s findings have added to US calls for a complete export ban on advanced lithography equipment for Chinese chip plants.
The material provided does not assess how the machines may affect Chinese production timelines, or provide details of the method used to derive its estimates. ASML and the Dutch government’s responses to the findings were not included in the material provided.
The figures nonetheless show why the machinery remains strategically important. Export restrictions have reduced ASML’s sales to China, while Chinese-owned plants retain a substantial installed base of immersion DUV systems that can be used in the production of advanced logic chips and memory for artificial intelligence processors.
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