China’s integrated circuits sales record highest growth rate in three years

March 13, 2022 0 Comments

China’s IC sales hit 1.05 trillion yuan in 2021, representing year-over-year growth of 18.2 percent, which is the highest growth rate in three years, according to data released by China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA)

CSIA detailed those sales of the manufacturing sector grew by 24.1 per cent to 317.6 billion yuan, while the design sector and the packaging and testing sector recorded annual growth rate of 19.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively.

The production volume of integrated circuits in China amounted to 359.4 billion units last year, up 33.3 per cent year-on-year, doubling the rate seen in 2020, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January.

According to data released by China’s customs agency, China is still reliant on IC imports, the value of IC exports increased 32 per cent to US$153.8 billion in 2021, more than double the growth rate in 2020. The value of IC imports jumped 23.6 per cent to US$432.6 billion, compared with 14.6 per cent annual growth in the same period last year.

China has been working to develop its semiconductor industry so it can be more self-reliant. That plan became more urgent over the past years after the U.S placed a ban on the sales of chips to Huawei Technologies.

To support domestic manufacturers, China issued policies including subsidies and tax cuts for chip companies, as well as set up semiconductor funds. In 2021, China launched 28 additional wafer fabrication construction projects totaling USD26 billion in 2021.

The national initiative has boosted investment and the number of tech companies participating in the sector.

As of Thursday, 81 companies listed in mainland China have set up industrial funds this year, and more than 60 per cent of them have completed mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor, state-owned newspaper Securities Daily reported.

Big tech companies including Alibaba, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and ByteDance have all entered the semiconductor sector with their own self-designed chips.

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