US President Joe Biden has signed a bill to provide more than 52 billion dollars to the semiconductor sector to make it more competitive with China.

Biden signed the bill into law on Tuesday at a White House ceremony.

The CHIPS and Science Act is designed to give financial support to the domestic production and development of semiconductors, whose importance is growing in the fields of advanced technology and military.

But the US share in global production has fallen, and the country relies on imports from Taiwan and elsewhere.

The Biden administration aims to revive the industry in view of economic security, while China is making state-led efforts to expand its domestic chip manufacturing.

The president stressed that making semiconductors at home will help lower the cost of living and create jobs.

He called the act "a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself" and said it is intended to put the US in a position of "leading the world again for the next decades."

Biden is believed to be hoping that the new legislation will give the Democratic Party momentum in the run-up to the midterm elections in November.