YMTC chairman Chen Nanxiang, newly elected head of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, calls for unity amid US sanctions
- Chen said China’s semiconductor industry was facing an ‘unprecedented upheaval’, but at the same time had its ‘best opportunity’ to develop locally
- YMTC, China’s top memory chip maker, was added to a US trade blacklist in December 2022, dealing a heavy blow to its capacity expansion plans
Chen Nanxiang, chairman of Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC), called for industry unity in the face of US tech sanctions after being elected head of the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA).
Chen was elected chairman of the 744-member trade group on Tuesday in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province where YMTC is based, according to a CSIA statement published on Wednesday.
In the statement, Chen said China’s semiconductor industry was facing an “unprecedented upheaval”, but at the same time had its “best opportunity” to develop locally amid US bans to restrict exports of chip-making tools and certain advanced integrated circuits.
“The CSIA should not be a bystander in the upheaval. It must build industry consensus and become a value contributor to the development of China’s semiconductor industry,” he said. Chen also noted that in the current situation the association needed a more effective decision-making mechanism, a secretariat with stronger execution capabilities, and the full support of all members.
The comments came just days after Washington further tightened its export controls on chip-making technology to China over national security concerns. The revisions, which come into effect next month and aim to fortify already stringent export controls issued a year ago, expand the scope of banned items to include less advanced deep ultraviolet (DUV) immersion lithography systems from Netherlands-based ASML.
Under Dutch export controls issued in June, some less advanced DUV systems could still be shipped to China with Dutch-government approval. The conflicting export control regimes have triggered questions from several Dutch lawmakers on whether the US has acted correctly in unilaterally imposing new rules, according to a Reuters’ report on Wednesday.
YMTC, China’s top memory chip maker, was added to a US trade blacklist in December 2022, dealing a heavy blow to its capacity expansion plans in Wuhan. The South China Morning Post has previously reported that the company was stepping up its cooperation and procurement from domestic suppliers such as Naura Technology Group.