China's IC industry jumps despite COVID-19

China’s integrated circuit industry revenue jumped 16.1 percent in the first half of the year, despite COVID-19 and its influence, the industry association said on Wednesday. 

China has issued a national strategy to develop the integrated circuit industry as an essential part of all chips and related electronics. It especially makes sense amid US tech export bans on China.

The growth came from a surge in demand for chips and the national strategy of intelligent infrastructure construction, speakers told an industry forum on Wednesday.

In the first six months, China’s integrated circuit industry revenue hit 353.9 billion yuan (US$51 billion), a 16.1 percent growth year on year, already higher than last year’s 15.8 percent growth, according to the China Semiconductor Industry Association.

China should optimize its integrated circuit industry structure and deepen integration between research and applications and boost innovation to make breakthroughs in the key semiconductor technology sectors, said Yang Xudong, a senior executive with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 

Among major integrated circuit sectors, chip design industry revenue jumped 23.6 percent to hit 149.1 billion yuan in the first half. Manufacturing revenue reached 96.6 billion yuan while test and assembling industry revenue hit 108.2 billion yuan in the first six months. 

The State Council recently issued a document outlining new policies to spur development of the domestic integrated circuit industry.

Industry experts also warned about duplicated and overheated semiconductor investment nationwide. They advised the government and investors to issue projects with market orientation.