Malaysia to assemble high-end chips for Chinese firms, avoid sanctions

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Many Chinese semiconductor design companies are tapping Malaysian firms to assemble high-end chips to hedge risks as the U.S. expands sanctions on China's chip industry.

To not contravene U.S. restrictions, Malaysian chip packaging firms are being contracted by Chinese firms to assemble only a type of chip known as graphics processing units (GPU), but not fabricate the chip wafers.