PRC 5-year plan: 7 new fabs; more IC assembly facilities

Electronic News, Sept 25, 1995

Shanghai, China--At least seven new wafer fabrication facilities and as many new IC assembly plants will be built in the People's Republic of China over the next five years, a Chinese official said at last week's Semicon/Shanghai exhibition and symposium.

Wang Guoguang, deputy director of the Ministry of Electronics Industry, said the microelectronics industry roadmap outlined in China's Ninth Five-Year Plan would create "tremendous market demand" for semiconductor equipment and materials.

Among planned new fab projects are two 0.8-micron, six-inch wafer lines and at least three eight-inch lines featuring 0.5-micron CMOS process technologies. New assembly facilities include at least eight foreign investment projects totaling nearly $400 million (all dollar figures in U.S. currency), and several new state-run plants.

"For equipment and materials companies, this is an exciting time to be involved in China's semiconductor industry," said Paul Davis, VP and director of international operations for Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International (SEMI). "A growing number of our member companies are doing business in China and many are establishing direct operations here. We see this trend increasing over the next several years."

SEMI estimates semiconductor equipment sales to China will reach $300 million this year and $450 million in 1996.

In 1992, the PRC produced nearly 120 million ICs using older 3.0- to 5.0-micron technologies on three- and four-inch wafers. Over the past three years, IC production has nearly tripled, and technology has improved to 0.8-micron on four-, five- and six-inch wafers. SEMI estimates China's IC production will reach 700 million units by the year 2000, with mainstream technology levels approaching 0.5-micron on six- and eight-inch wafers.

Of the fab expansions announced in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, China's largest state-run semiconductor facility, Huajing Microelectronics in Wuxi, will add a 0.8-/1.0-micron MOS line to its facility by 1997 that will process an estimated 10,000 six-inch wafers per month. A new six-inch line at Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (ASMC) in 1996 will feature 0.8-micron MOS technologies, and 10,000 wafer starts per month. Huayue Microelectronics of Shanxi is also planning a six-inch line addition. Meanwhile, Motorola, Shanghai Belling Microelectronics and Shougang NEC are all planning to add 0.5-micron, eight-inch wafer lines.

IC assembly expansion projects described in the five-year outlook include a $90 million Mitsubishi joint venture in Beijing, a $77.5 million SGS-Thomson joint venture in Shenzhen and a $75 million Alphatec joint venture in Shanghai. Companies that have announced plans to establish subsidiaries in China include Samsung and Advanced Micro Devices in Suzhou, and Hyundai Electronics and Intel in Shanghai.