Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited, a Chinese chip manufacturer has received regulatory approval for an 18 billion yan ($2.5 billion) initial public offering in Shanghai, China, as competition with the US over semiconductor technology continues to mount.

Hua Hong’s planned IPO comes after the U.S. The Biden administration expanded its export restrictions to Chinese semiconductor companies citing matters of national security, as part of its drive to stop China from developing advanced computer chips. The restrictions barred U.S.-based equipment makers from selling tools to Chinese foundries for the production of logic chips produced at 14 nanometers and below.

Hua Hong, with a 3.2% global market share of the foundry business, plans to use the money to finance the erection of a new fabrication plant in the eastern city of Wuxi, with construction set to begin in 2023 and an upgrade of its existing facilities to ramp up its production capabilities.

The planned IPO comes after, China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), the largest chip manufacturer went public on Shanghai’s tech-centric STAR market in 2020 raising $6.6 billion yuan in its IPO, making it the largest ever on the then-new board and the largest in China since 2010.

The regulator’s green light for the IPO follows Beijing's vowed support for domestic tech companies amid escalating trade restrictions from the US in an effort to curb progress in China’s chip industry.