HONG KONG/WASHINGTON — Semiconductors and other restricted goods shipped through China and Hong Kong to fuel Russia's war effort fell by a fifth this year previously undisclosed US Commerce Department data shows, but Hong Kong remains a global sanctions evasion hotspot.

Transshipments through Hong Kong of Common High Priority Items (CHPL) — advanced components including microelectronics deemed by the US and European Union as likely to be used for Russia's war in Ukraine — fell 28 per cent between January and May, a US Commerce Department official told Reuters.

For the same period, transshipments of those items through mainland China, excluding Hong Kong, fell 19 per cent, the official said.

Reuters is reporting the previously undisclosed numbers for the first time.

Asked about transshipment of dual-use goods through China into Russia, the Commerce Department referred Reuters to earlier statements outlining its efforts to "restrict Russia's access to the technologies and other items that it needs to sustain its brutal war against Ukraine."

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