(Bloomberg) -- Japan said it will expand restrictions on exports of 23 types of leading-edge chipmaking technology, as the US ratchets up efforts to limit China’s access to key semiconductor knowhow.

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About 10 Japanese companies including leading gearmaker Tokyo Electron Ltd. would need to get licenses to ship a broader-than-expected array of equipment used to transform silicon into chips, spanning cleaning, deposition, annealing, lithography, etching and testing.

Tokyo’s move follows months of lobbying by the US to get Japan to join it in tightening shipments of semiconductor tools to China. Japan and the Netherlands had agreed in principle to join the US, but have sought to chart a middle road between the two superpowers.

Japan Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the move was not in coordination with the US and was not a ban.

“These export controls apply to all regions and are not meant to target any one country,” he told reporters on Friday. “We will be looking at whether there is any danger of military appropriation.”

However, Japan’s most-favored trading partners — including South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan — will be able to continue importing without a license, trade ministry officials said. Shipments of restricted equipment to China would require sign-offs by export control officials.

Japan’s announcement comes a day before Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s visit to China the first by a foreign minister in more than 3 years. It also coincides with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the US, which China has protested.

With the help of the Netherlands and Japan, the US is seeking to create a global blockade to prevent China from getting key equipment now essential to make the most advanced chips used in quantum computing, advanced wireless networks and artificial intelligence.