"Despite US-led export controls, China’s progress in hardware has continued, if at a slower pace" Pace has clearly increased due to redirection of the sales re

"Despite US-led export controls, China’s progress in hardware has continued, if at a slower pace" Pace has clearly increased due to redirection of the sales revenue to domestic suppliers, which would have otherwise gone to fund the R&D of international suppliers. Beijing had previously struggled to persuade Chinese companies to buy Chinese chips, but US trade exports have done the job of CPC for them.