Beijing’s effort to fold several domestic chip-equipment producers into a single state-backed champion is running into resistance, according to a Financial Times report citing people familiar with the talks. Officials have been exploring a merger designed to streamline China’s fragmented semiconductor supply chain and sharpen its ability to compete with US and European rivals. Negotiations have stalled over how the combined entity would be owned and valued, with some companies reluctant to accept the government’s proposed terms, the report said. The impasse underscores the broader challenges Beijing faces as it tries to accelerate technological self-sufficiency amid escalating trade and export-control pressures.