Semiconductor industry to get boost in China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-20 11:09

China will see a faster development of the semiconductor industry with increased investment and preferential policies in the years to come, said an official from the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry.

Zhang Qi, director of the Administration Department of Electronic and Information Products with the ministry, said the country will invest US$10 billion in the semiconductor sector by 2005.

Zhang, who is in Shanghai to attend the Third Electronica China and Productronica China 2004, a three-day fair that opened on Wednesday and will close on Friday, did not provide details about the preferential policies.

China produced 12.41 billion units of integrated circuits (IC) last year and has become a global base for production of semiconductor-based electronic products.

However, domestically produced semiconductors only meet 20 percent of the country's demand for semiconductors.

Moreover, a lack of semiconductors with China's own property rights has become a bottleneck that hinders the growth in the semiconductor industry, said Zhang. He called for greater efforts to develop more semiconductors bearing China's own property rights, with higher competitive power on the market, instead of just engaging in a "made-in-China" processing service.

China's information industry is now ranked third in the world after the United States and Japan. Sales revenue from the country's information industry amounted to 1.88 trillion yuan (US$226.51 billion) last year, double the figure in 2000.



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