China's state planner and Samsung Electronics have signed a memorandum of understanding for further cooperation on semiconductors.

According to state media China Daily, the memorandum of understanding is focused on possible cooperation in chip making, artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing, but has nothing to do with the price rises of storage chips.

In December, the China Daily reported that the China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was paying close attention to a recent surge in the price of chips used for long-term data storage in phones and could look into possible price fixing by the manufacturers.

"The NDRC had earlier signed an agreement with the company for three years, so the current move is only an extension of the same," said Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Mobile China Alliance.

Samsung has built a NAND flash chip factory in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and plans to expand the manufacturing capacity with a US$7 billion investment in the next three years.

2nd chip line in S. Korea

In related news, Samsung is pushing to build a second chip-production line near Seoul.

The tech giant is said to be in talks with officials in Pyeongtaek over a new chip-production line in the city, which is already the home of Samsung's chip-production line.

An executive at Samsung Electronics said that no decision has been made yet.

Samsung Electronics has a chip-production line in Xian, China and another chip-making production line in Austin, Texas.