Beijing is weighing holding up US chipmaker Broadcom’s $69bn acquisition of cloud software company VMware — a move that would come soon after Washington toughened rules to block Chinese access to high-performance semiconductors.China’s State Administration of Market Regulation has not signed off on the blockbuster deal announced in May 2022 and is likely to delay approving the transaction, especially in the wake of Washington’s tougher chip controls unveiled on Tuesday, said three people familiar with the matter.

Two of the people said China’s merger and acquisition approvals for US companies now required additional consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Council.

“Their involvement adds to the political nature of the process,” one of the people said.