The U.S. Department of State has given the clearance to Taiwan to buy an estimated $750 million worth of howitzers and related weaponry, CNN and Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The sale marks the first major foreign military deal to Taiwan green lit by the Biden administration -- a move likely to further deepen frictions with China.

The procurement would cover 40 howitzer systems, an advanced field artillery data system, five Hercules vehicles, five M2 Chrysler .50 caliber machine guns and other combat hardware.

The Biden administration released a notification regarding the proposed sale Wednesday, a State Department representative, two sources from Congress, and a notice from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The planned weapons sale must be reviewed by a congressional evaluation panel and pass through negotiations between Taiwan and defense contractor BAE Systems, which also makes the latest howitzers for the U.S. Army, before a contract is signed and delivery times set.

The sale comes after a string of weapons deals in 2020 that included attack drones and coastal missile batteries intended to boost Taiwan's capabilities and deter a Chinese invasion, reports said.

Despite clearance by the State Department, the notice does not indicate a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.

Although the planned sale is not especially massive in scope or ambitious in the weaponry provided, it is certain to be denounced by China.

The State department representative said the planned sale will contribute to the major upgrade of Taiwan's howitzer defense system and boost its self-defense capabilities to deal with current and future threats.

But according to Aaron Mehta of Breaking Defense News, China is almost certain to denounce the sale, both Taiwan for the procurement, and the American weapons maker that would sell the equipment -- in this scenario, that would be BAE Systems, which the Pentagon said was the exclusive contractor for the deal.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of military force in its quest for unification.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called his country's pursuit to gain dominion of Taiwan a "historic mission" during a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of China's Communist Party.