London/Berlin CNN Business —The German government has blocked the sale of one of its semiconductor factories to a Chinese-owned tech company because of security concerns. Silex announced in December that it had signed an agreement with Elmos to buy the factory for €85 million ($85.4 million). Addressing the blocked chip deal, he stressed that “Germany is and will remain an open investment location” but that it was not “naive”. China’s chips under threatThe visit came just a month after the United States introduced stringent controls on chip exports to China, a move designed to protect its national security and bolster its domestic semiconductor industry. In early October, the Biden administration banned Chinese firms from buying advanced chips and chip-making equipment without a license.

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