China aims to double advanced chip production capacity, with SMIC and Hua Hong leading the way to meet AI computing demands

According to foreign media reports, despite the ongoing industry restrictions imposed by the United States, top chip manufacturers in mainland China are striving to double their advanced semiconductor production with strong support from the Chinese government to meet the rising demand from domestic artificial intelligence chip developers.

According to informed sources, SMIC (00981.HK), Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347.HK), and several chip manufacturers associated with Huawei are working to expand or initiate the production of chips using the most advanced domestic technologies, involving 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer processes. The sources indicated that this national-level initiative aims to meet the growing demand for domestic artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.

Two informed sources stated that China aims to increase the production of relatively advanced chips from the current less than 20,000 units to 100,000 units within one to two years. One of them further indicated that the country has set an ambitious target to increase wafer capacity by an additional 500,000 units before 2030. However, the ongoing U.S. export controls continue to restrict China's access to cutting-edge chip manufacturing equipment, creating uncertainty about whether the significant production increase target can be achieved. The sources noted that while China has made progress in establishing a domestic chip tool industry, the performance of foreign machines still far exceeds that of local alternatives