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China’s semiconductor output in May rebounds as Covid-19 restrictions ease

  • Production of integrated circuits last month rebounded 6 per cent from April, but it was still 10 per cent lower than a year earlier
  • Total chip production in the first five months this year amounted to 134.9 billion units, down 6 per cent from the same period in 2021

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An employee makes a chip at a factory in Nantong in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: STR/AFP

China recorded a slight uptick in semiconductor output in May compared with the previous month, in a sign that the national economy was improving, although the impact of strict Covid-19 control measures persisted, official data released on Wednesday showed.

Production of integrated circuits (ICs) last month rebounded over 6 per cent to 27.5 billion units from 25.9 billion units in April, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics.
However, May’s output was still less than the 28.5 billion units produced in March, before Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions disrupted manufacturing activities in the Yangtze River Delta, home to Shanghai and a major chip production base.

Last month’s production was also down 10.4 per cent from a year earlier.

A factory of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation in Shanghai. Photo: EPA-EFE
A factory of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation in Shanghai. Photo: EPA-EFE

The numbers stood in sharp contrast to the year-on-year growth of 37.6 per cent registered in May last year, when the country produced 29.8 billion ICs.

This came as China’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 infections pushed local economic activity to a virtual halt during the worst of the outbreak in Shanghai.

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