BEIJING ¨C Antitrust officials in China¡¯s Ministry of Commerce are concerned about the role SK Hynix Inc. will play in the sale of Toshiba Corp.¡¯s memory chip business as the country commences a review of the deal, according to sources.

The officials are looking at the fact that Hynix could take a sizable stake in the business if the sale goes ahead, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous as they weren¡¯t authorized to speak on the matter, said.

From Toshiba¡¯s side, they may need to provide stronger assurance to regulators that it won¡¯t hurt competition.

The ministry could impose conditions on a deal, the sources said.

China is the world¡¯s largest market for semiconductors and is spending billions to build up its domestic industry. Hynix, South Korea¡¯s second-largest chipmaker, is part of a group led by Bain Capital LP that is buying the business from Toshiba for ?2 trillion.

The Icheon-based company is financing the deal through convertible bonds that could give it as much as 15 percent of the voting rights in the business.

The ministry didn¡¯t immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. Hynix declined to comment. Toshiba and Bain weren¡¯t immediately able to comment.

Toshiba is selling its chip unit to repair a balance sheet battered by billions of dollars of losses from its nuclear energy operations.

Bain¡¯s group of investors also includes Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Japan¡¯s Hoya Corp. Tokyo-based Toshiba will retain a stake, and with Hoya will control a majority of voting stock, a solution that keeps control of sensitive technology in Japanese hands.

Last week, Toshiba and Western Digital Corp., a current partner in the chip business, settled a dispute over the sale that had threatened to derail a deal. The U.S. company dropped its arbitration claims after agreeing to invest alongside Toshiba in two new chip plants in Japan and receive a guaranteed supply of memory chips.