China’s largest maker of computer chips, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, is negotiating with the new U.S. administration over sanctions imposed on the company under former president Donald Trump.

SMIC co-chief executive Zhao Haijun told reporters during a virtual meeting on Friday that the company was communicating with its American suppliers, lawyers and the administration of President Joe Biden, in an effort to secure supplies of parts blocked by the Trump sanctions.

SMIC was placed on U.S. trade blacklists last year after Washington accused the chipmaker of having links with the Chinese military. SMIC denies any such ties. The sanctions prohibit U.S. exporters from shipping parts to SMIC unless licensed to do so, and also require American investors to sell the company’s shares.

Zhao said none of SMIC’s customers have said they will end their partnership with the company, although some have expressed concern over the impact of the sanctions. Computer chips are in short supply globally, he noted.

Zhao said SMIC intends to meet the demands of its long-term clients. Its production lines are operating at full capacity, and the company plans to expand the capacity of two production lines this year, he said.

The chipmaker on Thursday reported US$3.91 billion in revenues for last year, up 25.4% from a year earlier, while net profit rose to US$716 million from US$235 million.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, SMIC’s income from its 14nm and 28nm chip productions dropped 9.6 percentage points to 5% from the previous quarter, apparently due to a U.S. ban on sales of such chips to the tech giant Huawei.

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