Zhongxin Wafer: A leading enterprise in China's semiconductor silicon wafer sector.

Over the past year, the global semiconductor industry has undergone a profound adjustment. Faced with a challenging market environment, one of China’s leading semiconductor silicon wafer companies—Zhongxin Wafer—has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth momentum: its revenue for 2024 reached 1.35 billion yuan, representing a 7% year-on-year increase. Its core business segments continue to maintain a leading position in the industry; in the first quarter of this year, sales of 12-inch silicon wafers rose by more than 70% year-on-year and by over 30% quarter-on-quarter.

01 The Path of Collaborative Innovation: Technological Integration and Independent Breakthroughs Across Four Major Production Bases

Tracing back to 2002, the Shanghai Shenhe Semiconductor Silicon Wafer Division—the predecessor of Zhongxin Wafer, one of the pioneers in China’s mainland semiconductor silicon wafer industry—officially began operations. Relying on Ferrotec’s globally oriented technological heritage and a locally rooted management team, this company set forth from its inception a clear development goal: to build a globally competitive semiconductor silicon wafer enterprise through technology absorption and digestion, independent innovation, and industrial chain integration.

The growth journey of Zhongxin Wafer (including its predecessor) can be described as a paradigm of technology import and independent innovation. In 2002, the company introduced a complete production line and processing technology for 4- to 6-inch polished wafers from overseas. In 2016, it established its first production line for 8-inch polished wafers. In 2019, 12-inch polished wafers successfully rolled off the production line. In 2021, the Semiconductor Materials Research Institute was officially founded, focusing on fundamental research on silicon materials, research into preparation processes, testing and analysis, and product application studies. In 2022, construction of the epitaxy project was completed. In 2024, the newly built 12-inch polished wafer project was also completed. These key developmental milestones have shaped Zhongxin Wafer’s current operational structure: with its Hangzhou plant serving as the headquarters, and its Shanghai, Yinchuan, and Lishui plants working in coordinated synergy to achieve technological integration and independent breakthroughs.

Currently, Zhongxin Wafer has achieved end-to-end production—from crystal growth and slicing to grinding, polishing, and epitaxy—becoming one of the few domestic companies capable of supplying semiconductor silicon wafers in all standard sizes. Its products are widely used in various fields, including logic chips, flash memory chips, dynamic random-access memory chips, image sensors, and display driver chips, making significant contributions to breaking the foreign technological monopoly.

02 From Laboratory to Production Line: Growth in R&D Investment Drives Technology Commercialization

Semiconductor materials, as the foundation for chip manufacturing. “ Grain ” Its purity and performance directly determine the yield and reliability of integrated circuits. In the field of large silicon wafers, for a long time, Japan’s Shin-Etsu and Japan’s... SUMCO Germany Siltronic While international manufacturers dominate, domestic enterprises have long remained in a state of technological imitation.

Today, chip manufacturing technology is placing ever-higher demands on silicon wafer processing. The establishment of the Zhongxin Wafer Semiconductor Materials Research Institute is dedicated to reshaping this landscape. Since its founding, the institute has developed technologies with independent intellectual property rights. 8 Inch lightly doped polished wafers, 12 Inch CIS Epitaxial wafer, 12 Inch-light doping Logic Epitaxial wafer, 8/12 Inch annealed sheet, 8/12 Inch low oxygen MCZ Polished sheet, 8/12 Inch ultra-low resistance red phosphorus polishing / The epitaxial wafers have all achieved mass production, and the product lineup comprehensively covers memory, logic, image processing, and discrete devices. / Power devices, general-purpose processors, and other related fields.

Zhongxin Wafer places great emphasis on technological innovation and patent applications. R&D expenditures for product development, technology development, and process improvement related to large-diameter silicon wafers have been increasing year by year. 2023 and 2024 The annual R&D expenses as a percentage of operating revenue were: 11% and 13% As of 2025 Each year, the company has been granted the following patents: 285 Item, including invention patents 150 Item: The number of invention patents currently under application reaches 549 Item.

“ R&D in semiconductor materials requires the steadfast determination to hone one’s skills over a decade. ” Zhang Youhai, General Manager of Hangzhou Zhongxin Crystal Wafer Semiconductor Co., Ltd., stated: “ Through its application-oriented R&D system, Zhongxin Wafer is building a complete innovation chain—from basic research to industrialization. ”

03 Enhance smart factory development, implement stringent quality control, and ensure a domestically sourced, self-reliant and controllable supply chain.

Zhongxin Wafer adheres to stringent quality management, has established and perfected various rules and regulations, strengthened process management, and built and improved a comprehensive management assurance system. It implements high-standard quality control throughout the entire production process to ensure product quality and safety.

By building a domestically controlled and self-reliant supply chain, Zhongxin Wafer aims to achieve an in-house technological self-sufficiency rate of over 90% across the entire process for large-diameter silicon wafers, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of core raw materials. Currently, the first phase of equipment localization procurement has been completed.

Introduce the MES manufacturing execution system to achieve information-based production and management, including monitoring production equipment, managing production processes, and facilitating the transmission of production information. This enables real-time tracking of factory production dynamics and helps build a smart factory.

04 Double Good News: Monthly sales continue to exceed one million units, and the Lishui 12-inch polished wafer production line has officially been commissioned.

In 2025, the global semiconductor materials market is undergoing structural adjustments. During this industry adjustment cycle, Zhongxin Wafer is bucking the trend by implementing a “technology + capacity” dual-drive strategy, demonstrating the strategic resilience of Chinese semiconductor companies.

In May 2025, Zhongxin Wafer achieved a historic milestone by surpassing 1 million wafers in monthly sales across all its product lines. Over the past five years, the company has maintained a robust compound annual growth rate of 32%. This remarkable achievement strongly underscores Zhongxin Wafer’s steady development, further solidifies its industry position, and reflects the continued trust that customers place in Zhongxin Wafer’s products, technology, quality, and services.

Increased sales are driving capacity expansion, and Zhongxin Wafer has achieved a major breakthrough in its capacity-building efforts. The Lishui 12-inch polished wafer project was officially connected to the production line on June 7, 2025. The first-phase capacity of 150,000 wafers per month is expected to become operational by the end of this year, with capacity gradually ramping up over the next two years to reach 500,000 wafers per month. The completion of this project marks Zhongxin Wafer’s realization of a full-process manufacturing capability for 12-inch large silicon wafers in Lishui—covering “crystal growth, slicing, grinding, and polishing.” Looking ahead, Zhongxin Wafer’s 12-inch polished wafers will see their total capacity increase to 800,000 wafers per month, efficiently meeting customer demand and further strengthening its strategic positioning.

Over more than two decades of development in mainland China, Zhongxin Wafer has continuously engaged in the R&D and manufacturing of high-quality large silicon wafers through the organic integration of three key factors: guidance from national strategies, support from the capital market, and enterprises’ independent innovation. This has contributed significantly to the rapid advancement of the information age and helped propel “Made in China” initiatives in silicon materials!

In today’s technology-driven industrial transformation, core technologies remain the central engine driving enterprises’ high-quality development. Zhongxin Wafer will continue to deepen its strategic layout for technological innovation. In the coming period, we will provide detailed insights through a series of special features, covering topics such as our product portfolio, technological strengths, and patent commercialization.