A Chinese semiconductor industry group yesterday agreed to work with its US counterpart on chip-related issues, a rare example of bilateral cooperation in an area that has become a focal point of tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) said in a statement on its Web site that it would form a working group with the Washington-based Semiconductor Industry Association.
Ten chip companies from each nation would meet twice a year to discuss policies ranging from export curbs to supply-chain safety and encryption technology, the statement said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Shares of Chinese firms involved in the chip industry advanced after the statement.
Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯國際) rose as much as 12 percent in Hong Kong trading, while Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (華虹半導體) and Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group Co (上海復旦微電子集團) surged at least 13 percent and 14 percent respectively.
CSIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US group, which represents firms such as Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc, has not issued a statement about any cooperation and did not respond to a request for comment sent after business hours.
The future of the semiconductor industry is becoming a major issue in the tense US-China relationship. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) vowed in a major speech last week that his country would boost spending and drive research into cutting-edge chips and artificial intelligence, as Beijing seeks to cut reliance on US technologies. China imports US$300 billion of semiconductors annually.
Former US president Donald Trump’s administration took steps to limit the growth of Chinese national champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and SMIC, China’s largest chip producer. US President Joe Biden’s administration has put technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and next-generation networks at the core of its policies toward China, and said it will stand up to China and other “techno-autocracies.”
Cooperation between industry groups is badly needed, said Stewart Randall, head of electronics at consultancy Intralink in Shanghai.
“It would be a disaster if two semiconductor worlds were created where nothing was interoperable or there were no standards,” he said.
CSIA was formed by China’s top chip suppliers, labs and investors, including some that are on Washington’s blacklist, according to its Web site.
Its management team includes some of the most prominent figures in the country’s semiconductor industry. The association’s head is SMIC chairman Zhou Zixue (周子學). Xu Zhijun (許志軍), deputy chairman of Huawei’s board, and Zhao Weiguo (趙偉國), chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup Co (清華紫光), are also board members.
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