Are new Chinese rules a warning to AMD and Intel?

The Chinese government has urged its departments and agencies to use desktops and laptop computers that are equipped with domestic processing units (CPUs) and operating systems. The announced purpose is to increase reliability.

The government said the central, provincial and municipal governments should meet some new safety and reliability requirements when procuring their desktop and laptop computers, according to two statements jointly released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The two ministries said local governments on the county and town levels do not need to follow the new procurement rules.

The statements were released in a low-profile manner on December 26, 2023 and caught public attention only after being reported by the Financial Times on Sunday.

The UK newspaper said China has introduced new guidelines that will mean US microprocessors from Intel and AMD are phased out of government desktop computers and servers.

In fact, the statements did not mention AMD and Intel or any other suppliers. The China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center (CNITSEC), a unit of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), said on December 26 that 18 CPUs, six operating systems and 11 centralized databases had passed the country’s reliability assessment. All these products were developed by Chinese firms.

The CNITSEC said the 18 CPUs by then certified as “reliable” included Kunpeng 920, Loongson 3C5000L, Sunway 1621, Feiteng 2000, Kirin 9006C, Hygon C86-3G and Zhaoxin ZX-E processors.

It listed six “reliable” operating systems made by the National University of Defense Technology’s Kylinsoft; the UnionTech Software Technology Co; and the Chinese Academy of