According to South Korea’s presidential office and the companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be allowed to supply US chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate approvals from the United States.

South Korean chipmakers had been granted a waiver on licensing requirements for US chip equipment to enter China, which was expected to be extended by the United States.

Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said the uncertainty about South Korean semiconductor firms’ operations and investments in China had been greatly diminished.

Choi said Samsung and SK Hynix have already been notified of the decision, indicating that it is in effect.

According to the presidential office, the Department of Commerce is updating its “validated end user” list, which specifies which entities are eligible to receive exports of which technologies. This will allow Samsung and SK Hynix to continue supplying certain US chipmaking tools to their China factories.

It is not necessary to obtain permission for separate export cases once included in the list.

Both Samsung and SK Hynix, the world’s largest and second-largest memory chipmakers, have invested billions of dollars in Chinese chip production facilities.

Samsung said in a statement that “by coordinating closely with relevant governments, we have significantly reduced uncertainties regarding the operation of our semiconductor manufacturing lines in China.”

The US government’s decision to extend a waiver regarding export control regulations is welcomed by SK Hynix. It is our belief that this decision will contribute to stabilizing the global semiconductor supply chain.”