Congratulations! The third National Innovation Center for Semiconductors has been approved.

    5 On the evening of the 6th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced its approval to establish the National Innovation Center for Specialized Processes and Packaging & Testing of Integrated Circuits. This is the third national innovation center approved by the MIIT in the field of integrated circuits, following the National Integrated Circuit Innovation Center and the National Smart Sensor Innovation Center, and it carries significant importance for the packaging and testing industry.
In the eyes of industry insiders in the integrated circuit sector, establishing innovation centers and building R&D platforms for key, common technologies have become new levers for the state to support the industry’s upward development. The National Integrated Circuit Specialized Process and Packaging & Testing Innovation Center, this time, was established with Huajin Semiconductor as its foundation. The shareholders include several listed companies such as Changdian Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, Huatian Technology, Shenzhen Nan Circuit, and Jingfang Technology. 。

The National IC Packaging and Testing Innovation Center will be established.
The National Integrated Circuit Specialized Process and Packaging & Testing Innovation Center, established with the support of HuaJin Semiconductor, has shareholders that include leading enterprises and research institutes in the fields of integrated circuit packaging, testing, and materials—such as ChangElec Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, Huatian Technology, Shenzhen South Circuit, Jingfang Technology, and the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to available information, HuaJin Semiconductor’s shareholders—including ChangElec Technology, Huatian Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, Shenzhen South Circuit, Jingfang Technology, and Xingsen Technology—are all top-tier companies in the integrated circuit packaging, testing, and related sectors. A review by reporters reveals that the National Integrated Circuit Specialized Process and Packaging & Testing Innovation Center is the third national innovation center approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the integrated circuit sector, following the National Integrated Circuit Innovation Center and the National Intelligent Sensor Innovation Center. It holds significant importance for the packaging and testing industry. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the “mission” of the National Integrated Circuit Specialized Process and Packaging & Testing Innovation Center is to break through key common technologies in specialized processes and packaging/testing for integrated circuits, build an industry-wide R&D platform for common technologies, and establish a talent-development base, thereby driving innovative development of China’s integrated circuit industry. In fact, conducting R&D on critical common technologies through platform companies has become a well-established and widely adopted approach for advancing integrated circuit technology internationally. For example, Belgium boasts IMEC—a common technology R&D center that is open to the global industry.

It’s worth noting that, in the field of integrated circuits, all three national innovation centers have been approved for establishment by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. “Given that China’s integrated circuit industry is still relatively underdeveloped and companies within the industry have yet to build up substantial scale, it has become an inevitable choice for the government to take the lead in establishing R&D platforms for key common technologies.” In this regard, an industry insider specializing in integrated circuits explained that leveraging innovation centers to carry out R&D on critical common technologies has become a new key approach for the state to support industrial development. A reporter’s review revealed that as early as April 12, 2016... On [date], the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that four ministries—the MIIT, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance—jointly issued a document outlining five initiatives, including the Manufacturing Innovation Centers. Guidelines for Implementing Major Projects. Specifically, in the area of building manufacturing innovation centers, a number of such centers will be established to address major common needs arising from the transformation and upgrading of key industries as well as innovative developments in fields such as next-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing, additive manufacturing, new materials, and biopharmaceuticals. The goal is to have around 15 national manufacturing innovation centers by 2020 and approximately 40 by 2025. According to incomplete statistics from the Shanghai Securities Journal, previously approved national innovation centers by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also include: the National Innovation Center for Rare Earth Functional Materials, the National Innovation Center for Intelligent Connected Vehicles, the National Innovation Center for Printing and Flexible Displays, the National Innovation Center for Advanced Functional Fibers, the National Innovation Center for Agricultural Machinery Equipment, the National Innovation Center for Advanced Rail Transit Equipment, the National Innovation Center for Digital Design and Manufacturing, the National Innovation Center for Power Batteries, the National Innovation Center for Robotics, the National Innovation Center for Information Optoelectronics, the National Innovation Center for Integrated Circuits, and the National Innovation Center for Intelligent Sensors. Regarding the development of critical common technology R&D platforms, the aforementioned insider further suggested that, given the emerging trend of integrated technological development across industrial chains, it would be beneficial to further expand the participation of stakeholders in innovation centers both horizontally and vertically. “For example, the trend toward integration between the front-end and back-end processes in integrated circuit manufacturing is becoming increasingly evident. Wafer fabs have now become an important force in the R&D of advanced packaging technologies and should therefore also participate in the construction of packaging and testing innovation centers.” Taking the packaging and testing sector as an example, the insider explained further that it was precisely from this perspective that SMIC and Changdian Technology jointly established SMIC Changdian to carry out R&D on mass-production bump technology.