Chinese chipmakers have rapidly accumulated ASML immersion DUV lithography systems, potentially enabling mass production of 7-nanometre chips despite tightening export controls, as Beijing seeks to bolster domestic alternative options.
Chinese chipmakers have quietly assembled a large stock of ASML immersion deep ultraviolet lithography tools, creating a runway that could support 7-nanometre production for years even as export controls tighten. According to a report by Washington’s Centre for Technologies and Statecraft, companies in China had acquired about 343 such DUV systems by the start of 2026, with roughly 270 of them identified as ASML Twinscan NXT:1980i machines. The study says the pace of buying remained strong in 2024 and 2025, when Chinese firms took delivery of around 90 and 89 of these tools respectively, spending more than $13bn.
The significance of that inventory is that DUV scanners, although less advanced than EUV systems, can still be used in highly layered manufacturing flows that reach advanced nodes. The report argues that some of the equipment originally bought for mature processes can be shifted to more demanding lines, widening China’s room for manoeuvre in chips used for artificial intelligence hardware. It says the NXT:1980i can be used to make 7nm logic chips and HBM2e memory, both important for AI accelerators, including those associated with Huawei’s Ascend products. Even so, the authors note that lithography alone does not determine output: successful production also depends on the rest of the process stack, supporting equipment and sufficient yields.
The stockpiling has been made possible by a gap in export restrictions rather than a complete ban. The Netherlands introduced licensing requirements for ASML’s NXT:2000i and newer immersion DUV systems in September 2023, and extended controls to the NXT:1970i and NXT:1980i in 2024. But some shipments of the newer models can still be approved case by case, allowing Chinese buyers to keep adding to their installed base. The report’s authors, former US officials Nicholas Brown and Saif Khan, say that is a major loophole and have called for a broader prohibition on sales of all immersion DUV systems to China, while stopping short of banning older dry DUV tools used in mature manufacturing.
The scale of Chinese demand has also shown up in ASML’s own sales mix. According to the company’s reporting, China accounted for 41% of net system sales in 2024 and 33% in 2025, before the proportion fell to 19% in the first quarter of 2026 and 14% in the second quarter. That decline suggests the market is changing, but it also underlines how much advanced and semi-advanced Chinese capacity has depended on ASML’s installed base. In the report’s most optimistic scenario, continued imports could give China enough equipment by 2035 to support annual AI-chip output equivalent to 434 million H100s, while a halt from 2027 would reduce that theoretical ceiling to 153 million.
At the same time, China is trying to build a domestic alternative. Tom’s Hardware reported that SMIC is testing one of the country’s first home-grown immersion DUV tools, developed by Shanghai Yuliangsheng Technology and linked to Huawei’s SiCarrier. Another report said a Shanghai-based state-backed firm has begun mass-producing domestic immersion scanners, with deliveries to SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor and ChangXin Memory Technologies expected in 2026. Those machines remain behind ASML in performance and quality, and qualification for production use will take time, but the direction is clear: Beijing is pairing stockpiled imports with an emerging local tool chain in an effort to reduce dependence on foreign lithography.
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