Source: Bloomberg
Author: Jane Lanhee Lee
When Huawei's 900 US dollars (about S $ 1206) appeared, politicians from Washington to Tokyo were shocked.This phone not only marks China's rapid progress in semiconductor technology, but also pushes a "unknown" company that produces chips for Huawei into the middle of the US -Central Popular political hegemony.
Although the United States has implemented sanctions for several years and organizes a blockade aimed at curbing China's technological progress, SMIC has become a secret weapon for Beijing to break through the blockade.The company successfully delivered the advanced seven -nano -processor to Huawei, causing carnival in China, and caused accusations between the party in Washington because their blockade failed.
Considering that SMIC has been restricted by the United States for more than ten years and was officially included in the blacklist in 2020, this achievement it achieved was even more amazing.The US Department of Commerce should have fully controlled SMIC's purchase of all equipment or software that uses American technology, but at least in some cases, the agency continued to license SMIC.American councilors and industry experts now call on the Bayeng government to increase its blows and risk the risk of intensifying the tension of the United States and China.
"Once this incident is exposed, there is no other way to take a stronger attitude towards SMIC," the associate professor of Copenhagen Business School said Douglas Fuller."If they don't do this, then this policy has no meaning."
The U.S. government has said that its chip strategy is not targeted at China's smartphone, but its military capabilities.Semiconductor is the basis of the technology industry, which is possible to make everything from artificial intelligence (AI) models and cloud computing to drones, tanks and missiles.
The Ministry of Commerce of SMIC and the United States does not comment.
Local investors are currently cheering for SMIC.Since the launch of Huawei Mate 60 Pro in late August, the company's market value has increased by 22%to $ 5 billion, becoming the third largest constituent stock in the Hang Seng Chinese Enterprise Index.
SMIC's long -term problem is whether it can produce complex chips in batches -or whether the United States will restrict its capabilities.US Minister of Commerce Raymond Duo once said that China lacks the ability to "mass" to produce such components.The industry veterans, including Lin Benjian, deputy president of the front TSMC, believe that the United States underestimates China's capabilities.
SMIC has been reserve chip manufacturing equipment for many years, including the same model for the first batch of seven -nanometer semiconductor in the manufacturing industry.Bloomberg News reported that SMIC created Huawei chips on ASML DUV machines.
Lin Benjian, who had been responsible for photoresal technology at TSMC, said that SMIC should be able to use the ASML machine in his hand to enter a more powerful five -nanometer chip.Fuller and other experts agreed.
Jan-Peter Kleinhaus, the technology and geopolitics director of the German think tank State Tank State Ventationwortung EV, said, "the monsters in the bottle have come out."
SMIC has written the legend of the industry.The company was founded more than 20 years ago. The founder Zhang Rujing was born in mainland China, grew up in Taiwan, and then worked in Texas for 20 years.
The chip manufacturer he built on the wasteland in the eastern part of Shanghai has obviously received certain preferential treatment in China from the beginning, and has obtained land and tax exemption to support its exhibition.SMIC has won competitors such as Hua Hong Semiconductor and becoming China's leading semiconductor manufacturer.
As one of the most prospects for China's advanced chip manufacturing, SMIC has become the target of the United States shortly after its establishment.In 2005, Washington blocked its plan to purchase $ 1 billion in chip manufacturing equipment from the application material company, worried that it would compete with Micron Technology.In the same year, Taipei fined his founder, saying that he violated the investment law when he established SMIC.In 2009, a court of California determined that SMIC used the commercial secrets of TSMC.
Although I encountered setbacks in the early days, the Shanghai Municipal Government, which was at the core of China's modernization process, obviously stood side by side.SMIC also strives to contact other urban governments to cooperate with Beijing and Shenzhen to cooperate with local production bases.
SMIC has quickly established foundries across the country and competed with TSMC for contracts.The company began to hire Taiwanese executives and engineers to help expand.As a devout Christian, Zhang Rujing even persuaded local officials to allow him to build a church for his overseas employees near the factory.
The local human connections have helped cultivate a group of large -name customers -including American giants such as Qualcomm and Broadcom.In the process, it obtained the support of the "Big Fund" -the main semiconductor investment platform -and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund and other powerful institutions.
By December 2020, the Trump administration included SMIC in a blacklist, saying that it supported the Chinese military, but was denied by the company.Joining the so -called entity list means that American companies need to obtain permission from the Ministry of Commerce to supply SMIC.
The restrictions on SMIC quickly tighten.In October 2022, the United States announced the milestone export control measures, including cutting -edge chip manufacturing equipment that limits Chinese companies to sell 14 nanometer or below chips.
But there is a loophole.Although the US regulations immediately affected the country's chip manufacturing company, the Bayeng government spent a few months to win the support of the Netherlands and the Japanese government.This means that companies in these two countries (such as ASML and Tokyo Electronics) can continue to sell advanced machines to Chinese customers, while the latter quickly hoarded equipment.According to government regulations, ASML can continue to export advanced DUV machines by the end of this year.
In addition, Raymond's Ministry of Commerce has also been complicated.Including ASML DUV machines, many devices can be used to produce chips prohibited by US control measures and low difficulty chips that can be produced within the allowable range.
According to Reuters, the US Department of Justice is investigating whether the application material company is exported from the United States to South Korea and then to China. It sells hundreds of millions of dollars to SMIC without permission.
SMIC's impact will still be unclear.The Biden government is still considering how to deal with its cooperation with Huawei company on the blacklist.The United States did announce a new set of chip management measures in October this year, further tightening the restrictions on business in China.
Mike McCaul and Mike Gallagher and other eagle members reprimand the government's poor law enforcement.The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating the matter, but remains silent about the possible actions.SMIC may be punished by Washington, but its achievements have brought hope to the Beijing Science and Technology Industry's self -reliance strategy.
"This marks a milestone in the development of China's semiconductor," writing analysts shum and Sean Chen, an analyst at Bloomberg industry."This chip shows that China's scientific and technological strength is growing. While avoiding US sanctions, it is quietly pursuing technology self -sufficiency and progress."
