Xi tells Dutch prime minister: No force can stop China’s tech advance

China’s technological growth cannot be halted, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss crucial industries such as semiconductors.

“The Chinese people also have legitimate development rights, and no force can stop the pace of China’s scientific and technological progress,” Xi remarked, according to Xinhua.

Xi stated that China would “continue to pursue a win-win approach.”

Relations between China and the Netherlands have been strained since the Netherlands, along with the United States, prohibited exports of sophisticated semiconductor technology to China due to worries that they could be used in military operations.

Semiconductor chips are crucial components found in a variety of products, including cellphones and cars.

Dutch tech firm ASML has been forbidden from exporting extreme ultraviolet lithography tools to China—it is the only business now capable of manufacturing such devices. So yet, it has not sold a single EUV equipment to China.

Companies like Taiwan’s TSMC rely on EUV lithography tools to produce the smallest and most sophisticated chips.

In January, the Netherlands prohibited ASML from exporting some of their deep ultraviolet lithography systems to China, which are used to manufacture significantly less advanced semiconductors.

Beijing condemned the Dutch government’s decision, urging it to “uphold an objective and fair position and market principles” and “protect the shared interests” of the two countries and their businesses.

“Creating scientific and technological barriers, as well as severing industrial and supply chains, will only lead to division and confrontation,” Xi remarked on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.

He stated that cooperation is the only solution and that “decoupling and breaking the chain” is not an option.

Xi stated that China is willing to continue dialogue with the Netherlands and asked the Dutch side to “provide a fair and transparent business environment for Chinese enterprises.”

According to Reuters, Rutte stated on Wednesday that the Netherlands strives to guarantee that export restrictions relating to the semiconductor industry and companies such as ASML are never targeted at a single country. “We always try to make sure the impact is limited,” he was quoted as adding.

According to Chinese official media, Rutte responded by stating that decoupling is not a policy option for the Dutch government, “since any act undermining China’s development interests will only boomerang.”