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13.08.2023 07:53, Alexey Razin
This past week, China hosted a conference of Chinese manufacturers of equipment for the production of chips, which allowed many industry representatives to speak on the topic of the current state of affairs, taking into account US sanctions. One of the Chinese manufacturers said that the US authorities set themselves the task of keeping China behind in the field of lithography by at least five generations.
Image Source: LinkedIn
Such comments, as explained South China Morning Post, came from the mouth of the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AMEC, one of the Chinese manufacturers of lithographic equipment. Gerald Yin Zhiyao literally stated the following: “October export restrictions revealed the true intentions of the US, which seeks to keep lithography in China at 28nm, at least five generations behind the world’s leading 14nm to 3nm range”. According to him, Chinese equipment manufacturers do not intend to put up with this.
Sanctions against certain Chinese companies by the United States began to be introduced in 2019, but it is the restrictions in the field of export control that affect the interests of Chinese contract chip manufacturers that are the most destructive for the local industry, as the head of AMEC is convinced. The recently signed executive order by the US President to limit investment in three sectors of the Chinese economy is already the 16th restrictive step on the American side.
According to the head of AMEC, Chinese enterprises for the production of chips rely on domestic equipment for only 15%, the remaining 85% of the equipment comes from the US, Japan and the Netherlands. It is for this reason that after the imposition of sanctions in October, the US authorities began to persuade their allies in Japan and the Netherlands to synchronize their efforts. Back in 2021, AMEC itself was included in the list of Chinese companies suspected by the US of collaborating with the Chinese defense complex. Four months of intense negotiations led to the fact that such charges were eventually dropped.
In general, according to the head of AMEC, specialists with experience in foreign corporations who returned to China after the imposition of sanctions will help Chinese industry advance in the field of import substitution. The West will not be able to contain China’s semiconductor advancement by blocking equipment shipments, this industry official is convinced.
2023-08-13 04:53:00
#China #field #lithography #generations #technical #processes
