"China aims to produce 40% of the chips used there domestically by next year as part of President Xi Jinping's 'Made in China 2025' initiative. The current figure is believed to be just above 10%. [Whoever doing the chipmaking needs HF, including China.]
" 'The fact that South Korean chipmakers are dead-set on using Japan-made products, even in China, shows the difficulty of finding alternatives of a similar quality,' a Japanese securities analyst said. One possibility is for Japanese suppliers to ship the chemical straight to China.