(Yicai) Jan. 2 -- ASML Holding claims its canceled export license of certain chipmaking equipment to China should have limited impact on clients in the Asian country that aims to become more self-reliant on the semiconductor front.

The partially revoked permit by the Dutch government to export the NXT:2050i and NXT:2100i lithography systems to China should only affect a small number of local customers, the Veldhoven-based firm that got almost half of its net sales from China in the quarter ended September announced yesterday.

In June of last year, the Dutch government issued new rules so that producers of advanced hardware to make semiconductors need to obtain special licenses for exporting. ASML got such temporary permits for the two tools but they expired on Dec. 31.

The above-mentioned technologies are two of ASML's three mainstream systems in its deep ultraviolet product portfolio. The remaining one is the NXT: 1980Di, an older model that is the only one that can still be shipped to China's mainland.

The single-exposure resolution of the NXT: 1980Di is 38 nanometers or above, which means wafer foundries can only manufacture chips with processes of 38nm or higher. Theoretically, multiple exposures could result in more advanced processes but at a higher cost and lower profit, a market insider said to Yicai.

Ten to 15 percent of ASML’s business in China will be impacted by the new export regulation, but still, demand should remain quite prosperous this year, Shen Bo, president of ASML China, said to Yicai previously. In the long run, despite the sector’s cyclical fluctuations, the general trend will remain upward until 2030, he added.

In the third quarter of last year, ASML earned EUR6.7 billion (USD7.4 billion) in net sales, and 46 percent of that came from China's mainland, up from 24 percent logged in the second quarter.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine