中國又向晶片產業注資475億美元

Recently CNN on-line reported the following:

China is pumping another $47.5 billion into its chip industry

Laura He, CNN

Mon, May 27, 2024 at 6:28 a.m. EDT·3 min read

China is doubling down on its plan to dominate advanced technologies of the future by setting up its largest-ever semiconductor state investment fund, according to information posted by a government-run agency.

Worth $47.5 billion, the fund is being created as the US imposes sweeping restrictions on the export of American chips and chip technology in a bid to throttle Beijing’s ambitions.

With investments from six of the country’s largest state-owned banks, including ICBC and China Construction Bank, the fund underscores Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s push to bolster China’s position as a tech superpower.

With its Made in China 2025 road map, Beijing has set a target for China to become a global leader in a wide range of industries, including artificial intelligence (AI), 5G wireless, and quantum computing.

The latest investment vehicle is the third phase of the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund. The “Big Fund,” as it is known, was officially established in Beijing on Friday, according to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

The first phase of the fund was set up in 2014 with 138.7 billion yuan ($19.2 billion). The second phase was established five years later, with a registered capital of 204.1 billion yuan ($28.2 billion).

The investments aim to bring the country’s semiconductor industry up to international standards by 2030 and will pump money primarily into chip manufacturing, design, equipment and materials, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said when launching the first phase in 2014.

Roadblocks ahead?

The “Big Fund” has been hit by corruption scandals in recent years. In 2022, the country’s anti-graft watchdog launched a crackdown on the semiconductor industry, investigating some of China’s top figures in state-owned chip companies. Lu Jun, former chief executive of Sino IC Capital, which managed the “Big Fund,” was probed and indicted on bribery charges in March, according to a statement by the country’s top prosecutor.

These scandals aren’t the only roadblocks that could severely undermined Xi’s ambitions to get China to achieve tech self-reliance.

In October 2022, the US unveiled a sweeping set of export controls that ban Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chip-making equipment without a license. The Biden administration has also pressed its allies, including Netherlands and Japan, to enact their own restrictions.

Beijing hit back last year by imposing export controls on two strategic raw materials that are critical to the global chipmaking industry.

The new chip fund is not only a defensive move to counter Western sanctions, but also part of Xi’s long-held ambitions to make China a global leader in technology.

Last year, China’s Huawei shocked industry experts by introducing a new smartphone powered by a 7-nanometer processor made by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).

At the time of the Huawei phone launch, analysts could not understand how the company would have the technology to make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign technology.

In a meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in March, Xi said that “no force can stop China’s scientific and technological development.”

The Netherlands is home to ASML, the world’s sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to make advanced semiconductors. The company said in January that it had been prohibited by the Dutch government from shipping some of its lithography machines to China.

Translation

政府機構發布的消息顯示，中國透過設立其有史以來最大的半導體國家投資基金, 正在加倍努力計劃主導未來的先進技術。

該基金價值 475 億美元，是在美國對美國晶片和晶片技術的出口實施全面限制, 以遏制北京的野心之際而成立的。

該基金由中國工商銀行和中國建設銀行等中國最大的六家國有銀行投資，凸顯了中國領導人習近平推動鞏固中國科技超級大國地位的努力。

北京透過《中國製造2025》路線圖設定了目標，讓中國成為人工智慧(AI)、5G無線和量子運算等多個產業的全球領導者。

最新的投資工具是中國積體電路產業投資基金三期。根據国家企业信用信息公示系统顯示，這眾所周知的「大基金」週五在北京正式成立。

該基金第一期於 2014 年設立，規模為 1,387 億元（192 億美元）。五年後第二期成立，註冊資本為2,041億元人民幣（282億美元）。

工業和資訊化部在2014年啟動第一階段時表示，這些投資旨在到2030年使中國的半導體產業達到國際標準，並將主要向晶片製造、設計、設備和材料注入資金。

前面的路障？

「大基金」近年來飽受貪腐醜聞打擊。 2022年，中國反腐敗監管機構發起了對半導體產業的整顿，對中國國有晶片公司的一些高層人物進行了調查。據中國最高檢察官的聲明稱，管理「大基金」的 Sino IC Capital 前執行長Lu Jun於三月因受賄罪受到調查並被起訴。

這些醜聞並不是可能嚴重削弱習近平讓中國實現科技自力更生雄心的唯一障礙。

2022年10月，美國推出了一套全面的出口管制措施，禁止中國企業在未經許可的情況下購買先進晶片和晶片製造設備。拜登政府也向包括荷蘭和日本在內的盟友施壓，要求制定自己的管制措施。

去年，北京方進行了反擊, 對兩種對全球晶片製造業至關重要的戰略原料實施了出口管制，。

新的晶片基金不僅是對抗西方制裁的防禦性舉措，也是習近平長期以來讓中國成為全球技術領導者的壯志的一部分。

去年，中國華為推出了一款採用中國中芯國際製造的 7 奈米處理器的新型智慧型手機，震驚了行業中的專家。

在華為手機推出時，分析師無法理解，在美國全面限制中國取得外國技術的情況下，該公司如何擁有製造這種晶片的技術。

今年3月，習近平在會見荷蘭首相 Mark Rutte 時表示，「任何力量都無法阻擋中國科技發展的腳步」。

荷蘭是 ASML公司的所在地，ASML是世界上唯一一家生產先進半導體所需的極紫外光刻機的製造商。該公司一月表示，荷蘭政府禁止其向中國運送部分光刻機。

              So, China is doubling down on its plan to dominate advanced technologies by setting up the largest-ever semiconductor state investment fund. This move reflects Xi’s long-held ambitions to make China a global leader in advanced technology in chips making. This is good news for future consumers as competition will lower the price of chips eventually.