Netherlands looks to move past Nexperia dispute with China, Dutch minister says

By Laurie Chen

BEIJING, July 7 (Reuters) - Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma said on Tuesday that the Netherlands and China were cooperating "extremely well" to resolve a dispute involving chipmaker Nexperia, as he sought to reset ties with Beijing during the first visit by a Dutch trade minister to China since 2018.

The three-day trip comes amid intensifying U.S.-China technology competition and renewed trade tensions between China and the European Union.

"We had a frank discussion, but also forward-looking, because I think both of us wanted to make a clean break with the previous period in which there were a lot of frictions and a lot of problems," Sjoerdsma told Reuters after meeting Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing.

Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia, owned by China's Wingtech Technology, remains locked in a dispute with its Chinese parent over control and governance after Dutch authorities intervened in late 2025 over national-security concerns.

Nexperia China, with Wingtech's support, has declared independence from Nexperia Europe and is sourcing wafers from alternative Chinese suppliers, the firm said in May.

Sjoerdsma said Dutch and Chinese authorities were working constructively to contain the fallout.

"I think the Chinese government and the Dutch government are cooperating extremely well together when it comes to Nexperia," he said, adding that a durable settlement would have to come from an agreement between Nexperia Europe and its Chinese unit.

ASML FOCUS

The visit also comes as Dutch chip equipment maker ASML faces mounting pressure from Washington over semiconductor exports to China.

U.S. lawmakers are considering the proposed MATCH Act, which would further restrict China's access to advanced chipmaking equipment, including ASML's deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems.

ASML has rejected U.S. allegations that one of its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines — its most advanced tool, used to produce leading-edge chips and barred from sale to China under Dutch export controls since 2019 — was shipped to China.

"The goal of our semiconductor export control regime is to make sure that no material ends up in places where our security might be endangered, and I'm confident that the very strict Dutch controls ensure that this is the case," Sjoerdsma said.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Joe Bavier, Eduardo Baptista and Tomasz Janowski)