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 China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">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.