The Decoupling That Wasn’t: US Semiconductor Firms Quietly Grow in China
Despite years of escalating export controls, tariffs, and political pressure to reduce dependence on the Chinese market, American semiconductor companies are quietly growing their revenues in China. The Hurun Top 100 US Enterprises in China 2026 report, released this week, reveals a striking divergence between the political narrative of decoupling and the commercial reality on the ground.
According to the report, 26 semiconductor and electronics firms on the list averaged 20% revenue growth in China last year. Western Digital led the pack with a 43% increase, followed by AMD at 24%. Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Broadcom also posted solid gains. The data, compiled by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute, covers fiscal year 2025 revenues and is drawn from company filings and public disclosures.
The results are particularly striking given the backdrop. The US Commerce Department has progressively tightened restrictions on advanced chip exports to China since 2022, and the Biden and Trump administrations have both used export controls as a tool of strategic competition. Yet for many chipmakers, China remains an indispensable market, one that cannot easily be replaced by demand elsewhere.
Why the Numbers Don’t Match the Rhetoric
The apparent paradox has a straightforward explanation: the export controls are targeted, not blanket. They restrict the most advanced chips, those used in AI training, military applications, and cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, while leaving a large swath of the market untouched. Legacy chips, memory, storage, and mid-range processors face no restrictions, and these categories represent the bulk of what most US chipmakers sell in China.
Western Digital’s 43% growth, for example, is driven primarily by NAND flash and hard disk drives, products that are not subject to export controls and for which Chinese demand has surged as domestic data center construction accelerates. AMD’s 24% growth reflects strong sales of its EPYC server processors, which are licensed for export to China in configurations below the restricted performance thresholds.
The Hurun report also highlights a broader trend: US companies with diversified product portfolios are finding ways to grow in China even as their most advanced offerings are blocked. The US-China tech war has created winners and losers within the US tech sector itself, with companies that rely on cutting-edge AI chips like Nvidia bearing the brunt of the restrictions, while those with broader portfolios continue to thrive.
The Hurun List: A Snapshot of US Commercial Presence
The Hurun Top 100 US Enterprises in China 2026 list is dominated by technology companies, which account for 61 of the 100 slots. Apple remains the top-ranked US company in China by revenue, followed by Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. The list includes companies from a wide range of sectors, such as consumer goods, financial services, automotive, and healthcare, but the semiconductor and technology cluster is the most prominent.
The report notes that the Hurun US 100 generated total global revenues of US$3 trillion in 2025, up 8.2% year-on-year, while their China revenues came to US$362.2 billion, up just 1.2%. China’s share of their global revenues remained stable at over 12%, and for 48% of these companies, China is their second-largest global revenue market. The data suggests that, at least for the largest and most established US multinationals, China remains a strategically important market rather than one in retreat.
The findings complicate the narrative that US companies are systematically withdrawing from China. While some sectors, notably advanced AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, are genuinely subject to severe restrictions, the broader commercial relationship between the two economies remains robust. As the US-China trade war continues to evolve, the Hurun data serves as a reminder that economic interdependence is not easily unwound, even amid sustained political pressure.
The Hurun report is published annually and covers the 100 US companies with the largest revenues in China. This year’s edition was compiled from fiscal year 2025 data and released on May 25, 2026.
What the Data Means for the Decoupling Debate
The Hurun findings arrive at a moment when the decoupling narrative is being tested by commercial reality. US policymakers have long argued that restricting China’s access to advanced technology will slow its AI development and protect American strategic advantages. The export control regime has had real effects with Nvidia’s H20 chip, once widely used in Chinese AI data centers, now being restricted, and Huawei’s Ascend chips having filled some of the gap. But the Hurun data suggests that the broader commercial relationship between US technology companies and China is not only intact but growing.
This creates a tension at the heart of US technology policy. The same companies that are subject to export controls on their most advanced products are simultaneously deepening their commercial ties with China through their legacy and mid-range product lines. For policymakers, the challenge is to maintain the strategic restrictions without triggering a broader commercial decoupling that would harm US companies and potentially accelerate China’s push for self-sufficiency across the entire semiconductor stack.