(Yicai Global) March 4 -- China’s enduring industry leader Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp has managed to obtain about USD1.2 billion worth of chipmaking equipment from the Shanghai-based unit of ASML.

SMIC penned an equipment procurement contract with the Dutch chip manufacturing system developer, the Shanghai-based buyer said in a statement yesterday, without disclosing more details about the products.

The two parties had agreed to extend their earlier agreement that had expired on Dec. 31, 2020, till Dec. 31, 2021, to carry through the new purchasing deal.

Last month, the Chinese company had warned its investors that its 2021 earnings may be affected after the firm was added to the US commerce department’s so-called Entity List in December 2020, effectively limiting its purchases of US-made technologies.

Some American suppliers have obtained export licenses from the US government to provide equipment to SMIC, an industry insider said in a we-media article on March 1.

Veldhoven-headquartered ASML is the world's biggest maker of mask aligners. Its extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, which is subject to export controls, supports the highly advanced 7-nanometer or 5-nm chip production.

Shares of SMIC [HKG: 0981] rose 0.4 percent to HKD27.90 (USD3.60) this afternoon. Its Shanghai-listed stock [SHA: 688981] climbed by 2.3 percent to CNY60.02 (USD9.30).

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi