Chinese chipmakers have imported a record $26 billion worth of equipment since the beginning of the year.

Independent research data shows that China has recently been the leader in the volume of purchases of equipment for chip production. Official statistics from government agencies also do not contradict this trend. According to her data, in the first seven months of this year, equipment for the production of chips worth a record $26 billion was imported into the country.

Image Source: SMIC

This figure, as noted by Bloomberg, exceeds the previous maximum, which was observed amid high demand for chips in 2021. Now the demand for chip production equipment is growing in China mainly due to geopolitical factors. Firstly, local manufacturers are afraid of further tightening of sanctions from the United States, Japan and the Netherlands, which are the main suppliers of equipment for the production of semiconductor components. Secondly, China is striving to achieve a certain sovereignty in chip production, and additional equipment is also required to achieve this goal.

If in the first seven months of 2021 a total of $23.8 billion worth of chip production equipment was imported into China, then at the end of the entire year it reached $41 billion. Last year’s import of such equipment in monetary terms was only slightly inferior to the result of 2021, limited to $39 .6 billion. In July of this year alone, equipment exports from the Netherlands to China exceeded $2 billion, and this happened only for the second time during the entire period of observation. ASML in the second quarter received half of its total revenue from equipment supplies to China, and its local revenue grew by 21%.

Industry association SEMI estimated in June this year that Chinese chipmakers will increase their silicon wafer processing capacity by 14% to 10.1 million per month in 2025, rising 15% this year. Next year, therefore, China will process a third of all silicon wafers used to make chips in the world.