China is planning a sweeping set of new government policies to develop its domestic semiconductor industry and counter restrictions by US President Donald Trump’s administration, conferring the same kind of priority on the effort it accorded to building its atomic capability, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Beijing is preparing broad support for so-called third-generation semiconductors for the five years through 2025, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing government deliberations.
A suite of measures to bolster research, education and financing for the industry has been added to a draft of China’s 14th five-year plan, which is to be presented to the nation’s top leaders next month, the people said.
China’s top leaders are to gather next month to lay out their economic strategy for the next half decade. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has pledged an estimated US$1.4 trillion through 2025 for technologies ranging from wireless networks to artificial intelligence.
Semiconductors are fundamental to virtually every component of China’s technology ambitions — and an increasingly aggressive Trump administration threatens to cut off their supply from abroad.
“The Chinese leadership realizes that semiconductors underpin all advanced technologies, and that it can no longer dependably rely on American supplies,” said Dan Wang, a technology analyst at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is responsible for drafting tech-related goals, did not reply to a request for comment.
Third-generation semiconductors are mainly chipsets made of materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride. They can operate at high frequency and in higher power and temperature environments, and are widely used in fifth-generation radio frequency chips, military-grade radars and electric vehicles.
Since no single country now dominates the fledgling, third-
generation technology, China’s gamble is its corporations can compete if they accelerate research into the field now.
Global leaders such as US-based CREE Inc and Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd are just beginning to grow this business, while Chinese tech giants such as Sanan Optoelectronics Co (三安光) and state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corp (中國電子科技集團) have made inroads on third-generation chipsets.
Other Chinese chipmakers, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), Will Semiconductor Ltd (韋爾半導體) and National Silicon Industry Group Co (矽產業集團), might benefit more broadly from the state support.
“This is a sector about to see explosive growth,” Alan Zhou, managing partner of Fujian-based chip investment fund An Xin Capital Co (安芯產業投資), said in an industry forum last week.
Because of China’s increasing demand and investment, this is an area that could create a “world-class Chinese chip giant,” he said.
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