KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 -- Malaysia will tighten regulations on semiconductor shipments following pressure from the United States to prevent high-end Nvidia chips from reaching China.

Malaysia's trade minister said Washington has asked the country to monitor the movement of Nvidia's advanced semiconductors, citing concerns that the chips are being diverted to China in violation of US export restrictions.

"[The US is] asking us to make sure that we monitor every shipment that comes to Malaysia when it involves Nvidia chips," said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz, according to the Financial Times.

"They want us to make sure that servers end up in the data centres that they're supposed to and not sudden...