China’s chip bosses endorse semiconductor push in next 5-year plan

China’s semiconductor entrepreneurs – including artificial intelligence chipmaker Cambricon Technologies and testing-and-packaging leader Tongfu Microelectronics – have voiced support for the country’s 15th five-year plan, which places renewed emphasis on the chip industry as a cornerstone of Beijing’s technology ambitions. “National policy direction and planning are very well designed,” said Chen Tianshi, founder and CEO of Beijing-based Cambricon. Speaking on the sidelines of the opening of China’s annual parliamentary meetings last Thursday at the Great Hall of the People, Chen – a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – told the South China Morning Post that “for companies like ours, the key is to focus on doing our jobs well”. China’s 15th five-year plan, currently under review during the “two sessions” annual political gathering, makes multiple references to “integrated circuits” and “chips”. The draft calls for efforts to “refine and strengthen mature-node, enhance capabilities in advanced process technologies, accelerate development of key equipment, materials and components, and advance high-performance processors and high-density memory”. It singles out the wide-bandgap semiconductor industry – based on materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride – as well as high-performance AI chips. The blueprint calls for breakthroughs in critical technologies across the entire semiconductor value chain, as well as stronger academic programmes and talent training. Combined with energy infrastructure, computing power and various “AI+” initiatives, the plan outlines a broad strategy spanning the AI ecosystem – from infrastructure and software to applications and governance – reinforcing Beijing’s push for technological self-reliance. Shi Lei, chairman of Nantong-based Tongfu Microelectronics, an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) provider and a key partner of US giant Advanced Micro Devices, said the company “attaches great importance” to national planning and aims to “achieve higher-quality development”. Speaking on Saturday on the sidelines of an open discussion session of Jiangsu’s delegation to the National People’s Congress (NPC), Shi said technological progress must advance alongside practical applications when asked about persistent “bottleneck” challenges in the chip sector. “Cities across the Yangtze River Delta region have strong industrial complementarity and geographical synergy,” said Zhang Suxin, former chairman of Shanghai-based foundry Huahong Semiconductor, who is also an NPC deputy from Shanghai. “I believe deeper coordination will accelerate industry development.” Zhang spoke to the SCMP on Friday during an open meeting of the city’s delegation. Since late 2025, Beijing has been promoting a strategy centred on Shanghai while expanding the Yangtze River Delta as a global technology powerhouse across neighbouring Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui – a region widely regarded as China’s most important semiconductor cluster. On the same day, Ding Kuiling, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, called for greater investment in AI infrastructure to ensure accessible computing resources for the education system. Ding said the university had “mobilised the entire institution” to build a 1,000-card computing cluster for developing domain-specific models, but warned that current capacity remained insufficient. He also stressed the importance of adopting domestically developed chips: “If students start out using domestic chips, they will continue using them in the future. We must think about building a sustainable industry ecosystem.”