China has assigned a new head to a high-profile, state-backed chip investment fund amid a renewed push to pour resources into the local semiconductor industry and counter a US-led blockade of the country’s technological development.
Zhang Xin (張新) is to become president of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co (國家集成電路投資基金), popularly known as the Big Fund, Chinese corporate data service provider Tianyancha (天眼查) said.
Zhang was previously a mid-ranking official from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Chinese news outlet Caixin said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Big Fund was tarnished by an anti-graft probe last year, which led to the downfall of its previous chief and several other officials.
Top Chinese leaders ordered investigations after they grew frustrated with a lack of breakthrough in developing semiconductors to replace foreign imports after years of ample government investments, at a time when the US and its allies are tightening restrictions on China’s access to critical technologies.
The secretive Big Fund is Beijing’s primary vehicle for doling out capital to the country’s chipmakers. Founded in 2014, it drew about US$45 billion in capital and backed scores of companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯國際) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (長江存儲).
The fund operated mostly behind the scenes and kept investment standards away from public view, which some analysts said undercut accountability.
Zhang replaced Ding Wenwu (丁文武) as the fund’s president on Friday, and a day later replaced him as the head of China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II Co (中國集成電路產業投資基金二期), another state-backed chip fund, Tianyancha said.
Zhang is listed as a first-class technology inspector on the Web site of the technology ministry’s planning bureau, while Ding was once director of the ministry’s electronic information bureau, outranking Zhang.
The Big Fund became somewhat dormant for a few months following the anti-graft investigations, but it sprang back into action earlier this year, pledging an additional investment into Yangtze Memory, China’s top memorychip maker, which has been blacklisted by the US.
STRONG INTEREST: Analysts have pointed to optimism in TSMC’s growth prospects in the artificial intelligence era as the cause of the rising number of shareholders The number of people holding shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a new high last week despite a decline in its stock price, the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集保) said. The number of TSMC shareholders rose to 2.46 million as of Friday, up 75,536 from a week earlier, TDCC data showed. The stock price fell 1.34 percent during the same week to close at NT$1,840 (US$57.55). The decline in TSMC’s share price resulted from volatility in global tech stocks, driven by rising international crude oil prices as the war against Iran continues. Dealers said
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
Taiwan’s natural gas supply remains stable through the end of May, despite rising concerns about potential disruptions to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan has completed preparations for natural gas supply and shipping schedules through the end of May. It has also made plans to increase natural gas imports from regions outside the Middle East in June to ensure a stable supply, it added. Taiwan sources natural gas from 14 countries and is not solely dependent on the Middle East,
China is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. China is among the largest fertilizer exporters — shipping more than US$13 billion of it last year — and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers. Shipments through the war-blocked Strait of Hormuz account for about one-third of the sea-borne supply. This month, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources said. The ban, which has not
RSS