China’s efforts to build up a modern, local chip production facility continue to falter. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) hired Chiang Shang-yi as CEO and appointed member of the strategic committee in mid-December 2020. Co-CEO Liang Mong-song has submitted a conditional resignation.

Chiang Shang-yi previously headed the Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC ) – China’s second major chip manufacturing project that went bankrupt due to lack of investment. Before their posts in Chinese companies, both Chiang Shang-yi and Liang Mong-song held leading roles at the Taiwanese chip order manufacturer TSMC, including in development. The website EE Times .

reports on the new line-up at SMIC Chiang Shang-yi has held for almost a year. 2021 SMIC’s board wants to decide on the whereabouts – trust and perspective look different. It is not known what conditions Liang Mong-songs imposes. So-called “conditional resignation” could contain your own goals (“if y wafers are not running in z manufacturing process by date x, I’ll go”) or conditions for the work environment (“if y won’t be corrected by date y, I’ll go”).

Previously 14 nm at SMIC SMIC currently produces chips with 14 – nanometer structures and is therefore China’s most modern production facility for silicon chips. Huawei, for example, has the HiSilicon Kirin 710 A produced by SMIC, but only in small numbers. Next year, the 7 nm production on a larger scale is to begin, but the trade war between the USA and China could delay the plans.

Despite the same name, the SMIC production technology for 7 nm does not have to be the same Deliver quality like TSMCs or Samsung’s 7 nm technology. The last two contract manufacturers mentioned, for example, already use EUV lithography systems from ASML, the world’s only provider of this technology to date. As reported by Reuters and Bloomberg , the US government is trying to export the EUV -Technology of the Dutch company ASML to prevent China. This is possible because the ASML-EUV machines also contain know-how from the USA and because they are classified as so-called dual-use goods, which can also be used for military products in addition to civilian products. According to international agreements, export permits are required for this.

HSMC wanted China with short and medium-term investments of the equivalent of 17 billion euros as set up a second chip order maker. HSMC recently ran out of money, partly due to disagreements among investors and the local government.

(mma)