Tsinghua says the project is part of China’s efforts to build a world-leading chip industry, and it hopes it will create a siphoning effect to attract more development.

China is trying to reduce its annual $235 billion bill for ICs. The government has put up a $160 billion fund to help achieve that.

Tsinghua also has a controlling interest in Yangtze River Storage Technology which broke ground last week on its $24 billion 3D NAND fab in Wuhan where first silicon is expected in 2018 and full capacity of 300k wpm expected in 2020.

A third Tsinghua-controlled fab is expected to be announced in Chengu with ground broken during this year. Chengu is expected to be a $24 billion logic fab.

China’s fab building spree is thought to be in response to the US strategy of refusing to let China buy up US chip companies.

Late last year US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker warned about the scale of  China’s chip investment. “This unprecedented state-driven interference would distort the market and undermine the innovation ecosystem,” said Pritzker, “the world has seen the effects of this type of targeted, government-led interference before, the result has been overcapacity in the global marketplace that has artificially reduced prices, cost jobs in both the United States and around the world, and caused significant damage to those industries globally.”

The incoming Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, told his confirmation hearing earlier this week that he is “very very concerned” about China’s semiconductor policy.

By: DocMemory
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