China’s Ministry of Commerce has restarted its review of Qualcomm's bid to buy NXP Semiconductors, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources close to the matter. The move comes after Qualcomm refiled the application last month, offering new remedies as it sought to get the bid approved. Officials at the ministry have been asked to hasten the review and the proposed remedies to protect local companies. The sources noted that approval of the deal is not definite and that reviews could still get delayed again.
Chinese companies have expressed concern that the combined entity will extend Qualcomm’s patent licensing business into areas like mobile payments and autonomous driving.
The move by the ministry comes amid talk US President Donald Trump has softened his stance on ZTE and is looking to prevent the company stopping operations.
