SEOUL, Oct 9 Reuters Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be allowed to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate U.S. approvals, South Korea39;s presidential office and the companies said on Monday.

The U.S. had been expected to extend a waiver granted to the South Korean chipmakers on a requirement for licences to bring U.S. chip equipment into China.

Uncertainties about South Korean semiconductor firms39; operations and investments in China have been greatly eased; they will be able to calmly seek longterm global management strategies, said Choi Sangmok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs.

The U.S. has already notified Samsung and SK Hynix of the decision, indicating that it is in effect, Choi said.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is updating its validated end user list, denoting which entities can receive exports of which technology, to allow Samsung and SK Hynix to keep supplying certain U.S. chipmaking tools to their China factories, the presidential office said.

Once included in the list, there is no need to obtain permission for separate export cases.

Samsung and SK Hynix, the world39;s largest and secondlargest memory chipmakers, had invested billions of dollars in their chip production facilities in China and welcomed the move.

Through close coordination with relevant governments, uncertainties related to the operation of our semiconductor manufacturing lines in China have been significantly…