China’s Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau Join Hands to Make Chips —Yicai Global
What happened: China’s Greater Bay Area, including Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, has set up a semiconductor alliance to prop up the country’s chip industry. The Semiconductor Industrial Alliance will launch service platforms for chip testing, electronic design automation, intellectual property, talent training, incubation, and more.
Why it’s important: According to reports, 90% of the chips used in China are imported or made by foreign firms operating within its borders. The looming China-US trade war has made self-reliance a more important goal. Talent and investment are said to be the biggest obstacle to developing China’s chip sector. Investments are already happening: taught by ZTE’s ban on chip imports by the US, the Chinese government announced an RMB 300 billion ($47.4 billion) investment into China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund in May 2018.