India, June 23 -- Japan's top five manufacturers of chipmaking equipment have posted a 10% decline in combined sales to China for the financial year ended on March 3, Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia has reported.

The report noted this was the first-ever decline, while attributing it to Beijing's efforts to promote its domestic industry. Chinese experts said that Japan's tighter chip curbs are increasingly backfiring, while China's drive for semiconductor self-reliance is helping domestic firms rapidly capture market share voluntarily relinquished by some foreign competitors.

Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Screen Holdings, Disco, and Kokusai Electric reported 1.47 trillion yen ($9.19 billion) in combined sales in China, down 12% from fisca...