Aug 10 (Reuters) - China wants the United States to ease

export controls on chips critical for artificial intelligence as

part of a trade deal before a possible summit between Presidents

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the Financial Times reported on

Sunday.

Chinese officials have told experts in Washington that

Beijing wants the Trump administration to relax export

restrictions on high-bandwidth memory chips, the newspaper

reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The White House, State Department and China's foreign

ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on

the report.

HBM chips, which help perform data-intensive AI tasks

quickly, are closely watched by investors due to their use

alongside AI graphic processors, particularly Nvidia's ( NVDA ).

The FT said China is concerned because the U.S. HBM controls

hamper the ability of Chinese companies such as Huawei to

develop their own AI chips.

Successive U.S. administrations have curbed exports of

advanced chips to China, looking to stymie Beijing's AI and

defence development.

While this has impacted U.S. firms' ability to fully address

booming demand from China, one of the world's largest

semiconductor markets, it still remains an important revenue

driver for American chipmakers.