A staff member works on the production line of a semiconductor manufacturer in Binzhou, Shandong province. [Photo by Chu Baorui/For China Daily]

Development of high-end products to speed up amid fierce global competition

The United States' and the European Union's multibillion-dollar plans to support their semiconductor industries will fuel global competition in the strategically important sector, and China needs to double down to achieve breakthroughs in core chipmaking technologies, experts said on Thursday.

The comments came after the European Commission announced a new European Chips Act earlier this week that involves more than 43 billion euros ($49 billion) in public and private funding, with a goal of doubling the EU's share of global chip production from 9 percent to 20 percent by 2030.

Last week, the US House of Representatives also approved $52 billion of federal funding for the US semiconductor industry.

Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the plans from the US and EU highlight the importance of chips to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to future economic growth.

"Competition in the global chip sector has reached a new high," Bai said, adding that China has rolled out a string of policies, including tax reductions and funding support, to accelerate the development of its semiconductor sector.

"I believe such policies will evolve and be further strengthened," Bai said, adding that more efforts will be made to encourage Chinese companies to achieve breakthroughs in core chip technologies.

The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, for instance, said China will speed up the development of high-end chips.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's top industry regulator, said that one of its top priorities during the 14th Five-Year Plan period is to advance the modernization of industrial chains and to encourage companies to overcome crucial technical bottlenecks such as in the field of high-end semiconductor equipment.

Local governments in areas such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces are also moving fast, identifying integrated circuits as one of their key industries during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

Roger Sheng, vice-president of research at US market research company Gartner, said that as the world's largest chip market, China's semiconductor industry has made progress in recent years.

In 2021, the sales revenue of China's integrated circuit industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($157.3 billion) for the first time, with year-on-year growth of 18 percent, according to estimates by the China Semiconductor Industry Association.

In comparison, global semiconductor revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate of 25.6 percent to $552.9 billion last year.

But there is still a big technical gap between Chinese chipmakers and their foreign peers, especially in high-end chipmaking equipment and fundamental chip materials, Sheng said. China, for instance, relies heavily on imports for lithography machines that play a crucial role in chip production.

To achieve breakthroughs in these areas, money is not enough. "Talent and time are the keys," Sheng added.

Fang Xingdong, an independent expert who has been following the semiconductor industry for more than two decades, said the sector in China now faces increasingly fierce competition, as well as technological restrictions from the US government.

The New York Times described the legislation that includes the $52 billion chip plan, if enacted, as the most expansive attempt yet by the US to take on China. Washington has also restricted dozens of Chinese companies' access to US technologies including semiconductor equipment and software.

"Within such a context, we have to beef up support and better leverage public and private resources to support homegrown semiconductor innovation," Fang said.

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記者：馬思

播報：Corrie Knight

音頻編輯：萬月英

【背景閱讀】

歐盟公布《芯片法案》

人民日報布魯塞爾2月9日電 歐盟委員會2022年2月8日公布《芯片法案》，希望通過增加投資、加強研發(fā)，擴大歐盟芯片產(chǎn)能在全球市場占比。

根據(jù)該法案，歐盟擬動用超過430億歐元的公共和私有資金，使歐盟到2030年能夠生產(chǎn)全球20%的芯片。目前歐盟所產(chǎn)芯片僅占全球份額的不到10%。法案需得到歐盟各成員國和歐洲議會批準才能正式生效。

《芯片法案》包括一項“歐盟芯片倡議”，將匯集歐盟及其成員國和第三國的相關(guān)資源，并建立確保供應(yīng)安全的芯片基金。該法案條款還包括監(jiān)測歐盟產(chǎn)芯片出口機制，可在危機時期控制芯片出口；強調(diào)加強歐盟在芯片領(lǐng)域的研發(fā)能力，允許國家支持建設(shè)芯片生產(chǎn)設(shè)施，支持小型初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。

歐盟委員會主席馮德萊恩當天發(fā)表講話說，在短期內(nèi)，此舉有助預(yù)判并避免芯片供應(yīng)鏈中斷，增強對未來危機的抵御能力；從長遠來看，《芯片法案》應(yīng)能實現(xiàn)“從實驗室到晶圓廠”的知識轉(zhuǎn)移，并將歐盟定位為“創(chuàng)新下游市場的技術(shù)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者”。

2021年，歐洲企業(yè)備受全球芯片短缺困擾，汽車制造業(yè)更是成為重災(zāi)區(qū)，一些汽車工廠被迫數(shù)次停產(chǎn)。歐盟希望通過加大對芯片產(chǎn)業(yè)的投資來降低對外部市場的依賴，但歐盟競爭事務(wù)專員維斯特格表示，歐盟距離實現(xiàn)芯片自給還有很長的路要走。（來源：人民日報）

美商務(wù)部呼吁加大芯片生產(chǎn)投資

據(jù)美聯(lián)社報道，美國商務(wù)部2022年1月25日公布的一項調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，全球半導(dǎo)體供應(yīng)鏈仍然脆弱，芯片供應(yīng)短缺狀況仍將持續(xù)至少6個月。美國商務(wù)部呼吁國會盡快通過立法加大美國國內(nèi)芯片生產(chǎn)。

美國商務(wù)部在針對全球半導(dǎo)體供應(yīng)鏈主要企業(yè)的調(diào)查報告中稱，2021年芯片需求較2019年增長了17%。美國電腦芯片供應(yīng)量已降至令人擔憂的低水平，增加了工廠倒閉的可能性?！靶酒┬璐嬖趪乐?、持續(xù)的錯配，受訪者認為這個問題在未來六個月內(nèi)不會消失。”

美國商務(wù)部還表示，汽車制造商和醫(yī)療設(shè)備制造商使用的一些芯片價格異常高。該部門將“在未來幾周內(nèi)讓業(yè)界參與解決特定環(huán)節(jié)的問題”。芯片短缺還擾亂了汽車生產(chǎn)，推高了汽車價格。

美國政府援引這一結(jié)果，呼吁國會通過立法，為其國內(nèi)芯片生產(chǎn)提供520億美元。美國商務(wù)部長雷蒙多在一份聲明中稱：“芯片供應(yīng)鏈仍然脆弱，國會必須盡快通過芯片融資，隨著需求飆升和現(xiàn)有制造設(shè)施的充分利用，很明顯從長遠來看解決這場危機的唯一辦法就是重建國內(nèi)制造能力。”

美國商務(wù)部2021年9月向全球半導(dǎo)體供應(yīng)鏈主要企業(yè)發(fā)出通知，要求它們在45天之內(nèi)向美方提供庫存、產(chǎn)能、銷售等信息，以確定全球半導(dǎo)體供應(yīng)瓶頸狀況。雷蒙多在11月曾表示，她已經(jīng)“與供應(yīng)鏈上的所有首席執(zhí)行官，包括三星、臺積電和SK集團等進行了交談，所有的首席執(zhí)行官都保證將提交可靠和完整的數(shù)據(jù)流”。

調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，受訪企業(yè)認為半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)的主要供應(yīng)瓶頸在于芯片工廠產(chǎn)能不足，其他瓶頸包括缺少半導(dǎo)體原材料、電子組裝部件等。（來源：經(jīng)濟參考報）

責任編輯：錢耐安