According to Tsinghua Unigroup, the company management is considering an agreement with chipmaker Micron that could be the biggest for a US company. On Tuesday, it said that an agreement was “still under discussion”. Micron has an enterprise value of $23bn that includes equity plus net debt.

Biggest deal that was signed in China was the acquisition of pork producer Smithfield by Shuanghui International, now known as WH Group. The deal was worth $7.1bn.

The company showed interest in Micron after China made efforts to improve its domestic chipmaking industry and last year it gained motion after a Rmb120bn ($20bn) fund supported by state was created to back deals and improvements in the sector.

David Einhorn, who is the activist hedge fund manager, was speaking well of Micron's prospects just hours prior to reports that such bid is in plans. Einhorn’s fund, Greenlight Capital, is among Micron's largest shareholders and has a stake of 3.1%.

Mr Einhorn expressed disappointment over this year’s poor share price performance in his quarterly letter to Greenlight investors. However, he added that the market was too weak in relation to chip industry profits in a period of decline.

According to him, "With only three remaining players, the industry is behaving more rationally. Manufacturers are redirecting capacity away from computer DRAM to other segments, and we believe that the excess computer DRAM inventory created earlier this year is now being absorbed". In 1993, Beijing’s elite Tsinghua University founded Unigroup.