TheChinese semiconductor industry, includingintegrated circuit design and manufacturing, forms a major part of mainland China'sinformation technology industry.
China's semiconductor industry consists of a wide variety of companies, fromintegrated device manufacturers topure-play foundries,fabless semiconductor companies and OSAT companies.Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) design and manufacture integrated circuits.Pure-play foundries only manufacture devices for other companies, without designing them, whilefabless semiconductor companies only design devices. Examples of Chinese IDMs areYMTC andCXMT, examples of Chinese pure-play foundries areSMIC,Hua Hong Semiconductor andWingtech, examples of Chinese fabless companies areZhaoxin,HiSilicon,Loongson andUNISOC, and examples of Chinese OSAT companies areJCET,Huatian Technology andTongfu Microelectronics.
China is currently the world's largest semiconductor market in terms of consumption. In 2020, China represented 53.7% of worldwide chip sales, or $239.45 billion out of $446.1 billion. However, a large percentage are imported from multinational suppliers. In 2020, imports took up over 83% ($199.7 billion) of total chip sales. In response, the country launched a number of initiatives to reduce its reliance on foreign companies.[1]: 274 To reduce reliance on foreign semiconductor companies, CICF pools resources from state investors including theMinistry of Finance,China Tobacco,China Mobile, andChina Development Bank.[1]: 274
In 2022, the country announced aMade in China 2025 goal of 70% domestic production.[2][3]
China leads the world in terms of number of newfabs under construction, with 8 out of 19 worldwide in 2021. A total of 17 fabs were expected to start construction between 2021 and 2023. Total installed capacity of Chinese-owned chipmakers was also set to increase from 2.96 million wafers per month (wpm) in 2020 to 3.57 million wpm in 2021.[2]
The semiconductor industry in China began between a period in 1956, along with the country's first transistor produced in a state lab. In 1965, China created their first integrated circuit. From 1956 to 1990, the industry followed a Soviet-style system of industrial organization.[4] China'sState Council prioritized semiconductor technology in its "Outline for Science and Technology Development, 1956–1967," leading to the establishment of semiconductor-related degree programs in five major universities. The Huajing Group's Wuxi Factory No. 742, operational from 1960, played a crucial role in training industry experts and supporting subsequent industrial strategies.[5]
In the mid-1960s through the late 1960s, China began a semiconductor program.[6]: 101
During the 1970s, China's semiconductor industry operated with research conducted in state labs and manufacturing in separate state-owned factories, hindering technology transfer. Most of the approximately 40 factories focused on producing basic diodes and transistors rather than integrated circuits (ICs). TheCultural Revolution from 1965 to 1975 further disrupted industry progress. However by 1972, China was producingthird-generation computers.[6]: 101
Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms starting in 1978 initiated significant changes. By the early 1980s, under thesixth Five-Year Plan (1981-1985), the State Council formed a "Computer and Large Scale IC Lead Group" to modernize the industry. Despite importing 24 secondhand semiconductor lines by 1985, only the Wuxi Factory No. 742 met production targets. Efforts then narrowed to focus on five key firms, but cumulative setbacks left the industry lagging behind global leaders.[5]
In the 1990s, China adopted a strategy of concentrating resources on a few large firms to foster partnerships with foreign companies, aiming to accelerate technological advancement.[7][8] Initiatives included joint ventures withNortel,Philips,NEC, andITT starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Theeighth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995) focused on developing Huajing (operator of Wuxi Factory No. 742) into a leading integrated device manufacturer (IDM),[9] supported by significant funding and a joint venture withLucent Technologies.[8] However, delays in implementation resulted in outdated manufacturing technologies and slower market entry. The ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) introduced Project 909, aiming for a domestic firm,Huahong, to produce internationally competitive chips using Chinese intellectual property and engineers.[9][8] While Huahong successfully partnered with NEC to enter production promptly, reliance on Japanese expertise limited knowledge transfer. Economic downturns in the global DRAM market by 2002 led to significant financial losses for Huahong, prompting changes in its partnership and operational strategies.[8]
In 2014, theChina Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund was established in an effort to reduce dependence on foreignsemiconductor companies.[1]: 274 In addition to the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, many otherChina government guidance funds also frequently invest in companies in the semiconductor industry.[10]: 164–167
Due to the rapid pace of Chinese semiconductor industry advances, on 7 October 2022, theUnited States government announced a major set of export restrictions toward China, with a focus on artificial Intelligence and semiconductor technologies, with the aim of disrupting the development of China's semiconductor industry.[11] In January 2023, these export controls were made multilateral with an agreement between the governments of the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands.[12] Between October 2022 and May 2023, China's government responded with a diverse set of measures, including filing a suit in the World Trade Organization.[13][14]
On 26 December 2023, China prohibited the use of CPUs made by US companies Intel and AMD for Chinese government PCs and servers.[15] The country instead approved 18 processors made by Chinese companiesLoongson andPhytium. State-owned companies were also instructed to transition towards Chinese hardware by 2027.[15] The ban was part of China's strategy to rely more on its domestically designed options in response to US sanctions and export controls.
On 15 September 2024, China announced significant advancements in its domestic semiconductor industry, promoting two new deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines. One of the machines operates at a wavelength of 193 nm with a resolution below 65 nm and an overlay accuracy below 8 nm. The second machine has a wavelength of 248 nm, with 110 nm resolution and 25 nm overlay accuracy.[16]
In July 2025, the U.S. government planned to restrict AI chip shipments toThailand andMalaysia due to Chinese smuggling concerns.[17]
Samsung, who is currently the world's largest producer of NAND flash memory, has two plants inXi'an which accounts for 42.5% percent of its total production capacity, and 15.3% of worldwide NAND production capacity.[18][19] It was the company's largest overseas investment in chip production with an initial cost of $7 billion.[20]
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is a Chinese semiconductorintegrated device manufacturer specializing inflash memory (NAND) chips. Founded inWuhan, China in 2016, the company received backing fromTsinghua Unigroup. Prior to YMTC, China had no company capable of producing flash memory. Its consumer products are marketed under the brand Zhitai.
In 2020, YMTC was using a 20 nm process to make 64-layer 3D NAND flash.[21] In April 2020, the company unveiled its first 128 layers vertical NAND chip, then the most advanced layer count in mass production, based on XTacking architecture, which then entered production.[22]
In 2021, YMTC was producing around 80,000 wafers per month, with plans to expand its first plant to reach 100,000 wpm capacity by 2022;[23] this would have given the company around 6-8% of global market share.[3]
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is a Chinese semiconductorintegrated device manufacturer headquartered inHefei,Anhui specializing in the production ofDRAM memory. As of 2020, ChangXin can manufacture LPDDR4 and DDR4 RAM on a 19 nm process with a capacity of 40,000 wafers per month.[24] The company plans to increase output to 120,000 wpm and launch 17 nm (LP)DDR5 by end of 2022, with a target total capacity of 300,000 wpm in the mid-long term.[25]
Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics is a Chinese semiconductor company headquartered inHangzhou. The company focuses on the design ofintegrated circuit (IC) chip and the manufacturing of semiconductor microelectronics-related products. It is one of the largestintegrated device manufacturers (IDM) in China.[26]
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is a partially state-owned publicly listed Chinesepure-playsemiconductor foundry company.[27][28] It is the largest contract chip maker inmainland China and 5th largest globally, with a market share of 5.3% in the second quarter of 2021.[2][29][30]
SMIC is headquartered inShanghai[31] and incorporated in theCayman Islands.[32] It haswafer fabrication sites throughout mainland China, offices in theUnited States,Italy,Japan, andTaiwan, and a representative office inHong Kong.[33] It providesintegrated circuit (IC) manufacturing services on350 nm to14 nm process technologies. State-owned civilian and military telecommunications equipment providerDatang Telecom Group as well as the China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund are major shareholders of SMIC.[34][35][36][37]
Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited is a publicly listed Chinesepure-playsemiconductor foundry company based inShanghai, established in 1996 as part of China's national efforts to boost its IC industry. Currently, Hua Hong's most advanced node is achieved by its subsidiary Shanghai Huali (HLMC), which in 2022 could manufacture a 28/22 nm process; in 2022 advanced 14 nm technology was being developed by the company.[38][39]
Hua Hong Semiconductor is currently mainland China's second largest chip-maker behind rivalSMIC and the 6th largest globally, with a market share of 2.6% in the second quarter of 2021.[2][38]
Chinese foundry players performed well in 2024, with a high utilization rate (UTR) of around 87% expected in 2025, thanks to the “Design by China + Manufacturing in China” policy and competitive wafer pricing. The “China+1” policy is leading to more orders being transferred from China to Taiwan, improving Taiwan's UTR, which IDC projects to be 79% in 2025. See chart on the citation link[40]
HiSilicon is a Chinesefabless semiconductor company based inShenzhen, Guangdong and wholly owned byHuawei. HiSilicon purchases licenses for CPU designs fromARM Holdings, including theARM Cortex-A9 MPCore,ARM Cortex-M3,ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore,ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore,[41][42]ARM Cortex-A53,ARM Cortex-A57 and also for theirMali graphics cores.[43][44] HiSilicon has also purchased licenses fromVivante Corporation for their GC4000 graphics core.[citation needed]
HiSilicon is reputed to be the largest domestic designer ofintegrated circuits in China.[45] In 2020, the U.S. instituted rules that require American firms providing certain equipment to HiSilicon or non-American firms who use American technologies that supply HiSilicon to have licenses[46] and Huawei announced it will stop producing its Kirin chipset from 15 September 2020, onwards.[47] HiSilicon was overtaken by Chinese rivalUNISOC in terms of mobile processor market share as a consequence.[48] However, at the end of 2023 theKirin 9000S processor, which was first used in theHuawei Mate 60, showed that HiSilicon was restarting its production of Kirin chipsets after a three-year hiatus, this time with entirely domestically produced chips.[49]
Hygon Information Technology is a partiallystate-ownedpublicly listed Chinesefabless semiconductor company headquartered in Beijing. The company mainly handlescentral processing units (CPUs) based onIntel'sx86 technology as well as domesticDeep Learning Processors.[50]
Loongson Technology is a Chinese fabless company that develops a family of general-purpose, MIPS architecture-compatible microprocessors, mainly used in personal computers and supercomputers. The processors were favoured by the Chinese government in its “Made in China 2025” push, which was also directed againstUS semiconductor sanctions.[15]
UNISOC is a Chinesefabless semiconductor company headquartered inShanghai which produces chipsets formobile phones. UNISOC develops its business in two major fields: consumer electronics, which includes smart phones, feature phones, smart audio systems, smart wear and other areas; Industrial electronics, on the other hand, covers such fields as LAN IoT, WAN IoT, or smart display.
In 2021, it was the fourth largest mobile processor manufacturer in the world, after Mediatek, Qualcomm and Apple, with 9% of global market share.[48]
Will Semiconductor is apublicly listed Chinesefabless semiconductor company headquartered in Shanghai. In May 2019, it acquiredOmniVision Technologies.[51]
Zhaoxin is afabless semiconductor company, created in 2013 as a joint venture betweenVIA Technologies and theShanghai Municipal Government.[52] The company manufacturesx86-compatible desktop and laptopCPUs.[53] The termZhàoxīn meansmillion core.[note 1] The processors are created mainly for the Chinese market: the venture is an attempt to reduce the Chinese dependence on foreign technology.[54][55]
JCET Group Co., Ltd. is a public company headquartered inJiangyin on China's eastern coast.[56][57] It is the largest Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) company in mainland China and the third-largest globally.[58] JCET was formed in 1972, whenJiangyin converted a local factory to produce transistors. JCET went public on theShanghai Stock Exchange in 2003 and continued to grow over time. JCET provides a range of semiconductor packaging, assembly, manufacturing, and testing products and services.[citation needed]
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment is a partiallystate-ownedpublicly listed Chinese company that manufacturessemiconductor chip production equipment. It is one of the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer in China.[59]
NAURA Technology Group is a partiallystate-ownedpublicly listed Chinese company that manufacturessemiconductor chip production equipment. It is currently the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer in China.[60]
Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) is a semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturer based in Shanghai, supplyinglithography (DUV immersion) equipment and other equipment used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Currently, its most advanced product is the SSA600, with a resolution of 90 nm. SMEE is developing the SSA800, with a resolution of 28 nm, which will be followed up by the SSA900, with a resolution of 22 nm.[61] In December 2022, theUnited States Department of Commerce added SMEE to theBureau of Industry and Security'sEntity List.[62]
China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) is China's third largest electronics and IT company behind only Huawei and Lenovo. Its fields include communications equipment, computers, electronic equipment, IT infrastructure, networks, software development, research services, investment and asset management for civilian and military applications.[63][64]
The company also manufactures semiconductors and semiconductor equipment used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, largely for military applications.[65]
Huawei is reportedly planning to build its ownfabs, in cooperation with SMIC, in an attempt to promotevertical integration and reduce impacts ofUS sanctions such asthe one it was subjected to during theChina–United States trade war.[66] In 2023, Huawei released its Mate60 Pro smartphone, which had a 7 nm chip application processorHiSilicon Kirin 9000S manufactured by SMIC using SMIC's N+2 process node.[67] In 2025, Huawei founderRen Zhengfei toldGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping at a meeting that "his previous concerns about the lack of domestic advanced semiconductor production and the damaging impacts of U.S. export controls had eased because of recent breakthroughs by Huawei and its partners."[68]
The VIA/Shanghai Zhaoxin KX-5000 series of x86-compatible CPUs will never be sold outside of China to avoid an Intel lawsuit.","...will use the technology to develop chips for server systems to be sold only in China