From its humble beginnings on the banks of the Qiupu River to becoming a vital pillar of Anhui's semiconductor industry, Chizhou has, over the past decade, strategically focused on developing its semiconductor industry as a leading sector, writing a legendary chapter of industrial transformation from nothing to something, from weak to strong, on the land of the Yangtze River. Today, with its relatively complete industrial chain and prominent niche advantages, Chizhou's semiconductor industry has become an indispensable force in Anhui's "one core, one arc" semiconductor industry structure. From January to July this year, the added value of Chizhou's semiconductor industry increased by 13.7%, contributing 22.5% to the city's total industrial added value above designated size.

Cluster Development: From a Single Seed to an Industrial Forest

"At that time, the national semiconductor industry had already begun to accelerate its development. Although Chizhou had no foundation, we were attracted by its locational advantages and business environment, and decided to take a gamble!" Recalling the scene when they settled in the Chizhou Economic Development Zone, Wang Liang'en, chairman of Anhui Anxin Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., still feels deeply moved. In 2012, Anxin Electronics, as the first semiconductor company to settle in the Chizhou Economic Development Zone, started with a few pieces of equipment and a few technicians, embarking on its "ice-breaking journey." More than a decade later, Anxin Electronics' daily chip shipments have exceeded 16,000 wafers. Its recently commissioned automotive-grade 6-inch wafer project fills the gap in large-size wafer manufacturing in Chizhou, and its products have entered the supply chains of Huawei, Apple, and BMW.

Anxin Electronics' growth is a microcosm of Chizhou's semiconductor industry's transformation from a single breakthrough to a thriving cluster. Driven by its success, a number of specialized and innovative enterprises have emerged: Juxin Semiconductor holds a leading global market share in photovoltaic protection power devices, and its second-phase packaging and testing production line is nearing completion, with an annual output of 600 million devices upon full production; Huayu Electronics' packaging and testing capacity ranks among the top ten in the country, and it has built the province's first mid-to-high-end packaging and testing production line; Gaoxin Zhongke's special precision coating technology has broken the foreign monopoly, making it a strategic supplier to BOE; and the addition of Anhui Tontouch Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. has further extended the industrial chain to the new field of automotive displays…

"Settled in December 2021, went into production in October 2022 and immediately reached the designated scale, achieving an output value of 20 million yuan in the same year!" Bin Yongqian, Deputy General Manager of Anhui Tontouch Technology, introduced that the company mainly produces automotive touchscreens, HUDs (Head-Up Displays), and OLED LCD panels. "Currently, our monthly HUD production capacity is 50,000 units, and it will exceed 100,000 units by March 2026. Customer orders are already booked until 2030." More notably, Tontouch Technology has also attracted supporting companies such as Da Martin Technology and Chipchip Electronics to set up operations in the park. "We source our glass covers from Da Martin, and our integrated circuits are supplied by Chipchip. The entire industrial chain can be completed within 5 kilometers of the park, significantly reducing logistics costs." A set of data provided by Yi Yan, a member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Chizhou Economic Development Zone, confirms the growing semiconductor industry cluster in the park. The number of semiconductor companies in Chizhou Economic Development Zone has grown from 42 in 2022 to 76 today, including 24 core enterprises. These companies account for over 40% of the city's 79 large-scale semiconductor companies, forming a complete ecosystem covering IC design, wafer manufacturing, packaging and testing, and materials and equipment. It is the region with the most complete semiconductor industry chain in the province. Cultivating a Strong Ecosystem: Diversified Collaborative Efforts to Develop a Leading Industry

"The semiconductor industry is technology-intensive, capital-intensive, and talent-intensive. Without continuous ecosystem cultivation, it is difficult to achieve long-term development," said He Na, a member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Chizhou Development and Reform Commission, highlighting the key to the robust growth of Chizhou's semiconductor industry in recent years. For over a decade, Chizhou has implemented a comprehensive approach, from city-wide coordination to park-based implementation, combining policy, innovation, and talent to empower the industry.

It is reported that Chizhou Economic Development Zone has established "science and technology innovation hubs" in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. By constructing a collaborative development model of "R&D in Shanghai, production in Chizhou; incubation in the Yangtze River Delta, and transformation in the Anhui River Delta," it effectively integrates innovation resources. Currently, 27 companies are incubating in Shanghai's "Science and Technology Innovation Enclave," with 3 projects already implemented and commercialized in Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. At the park level, Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone adheres to the "four-chain integration" approach, with policies following industry development. It not only simultaneously implements the municipal-level "14th Five-Year Plan" for the semiconductor industry but also revised and issued exclusive support policies, allocating a total of 700 million yuan in industry funds.

Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone insists on innovation-driven development, with 24 core semiconductor companies achieving full coverage of provincial-level innovation platforms. The zone has jointly established a technology transfer center with Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Anxin Electronics has built a provincial-level power semiconductor discrete device engineering laboratory, accumulating 20 invention patents. Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone has also successfully created a provincial-level semiconductor product quality improvement demonstration zone, with companies participating in the formulation of 7 local standards and applying for 53 national patents. Gaoxin Zhongke's coating technology and Tongguan Copper Foil's 5G electronic copper foil are typical examples of companies in the zone breaking foreign monopolies through independent innovation.

To address the pain points of enterprises struggling to recruit and retain talent, the Chizhou Economic Development Zone has implemented an "industry consultant" system, hiring experts such as Professor Wu Qingda from Anhui University of Technology to diagnose industry challenges. It has also jointly established a semiconductor industry college with Chizhou University and launched customized training programs, with leaders from semiconductor companies in the zone personally teaching the courses. Last year, over 80 students interned at these companies. Yi Yan, a member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Chizhou Economic Development Zone, acknowledged that despite the challenge of talent outflow, the zone's "university-enterprise joint training + enterprise practice subsidy" model has yielded positive results. This year, a project also piloted "policy sharing for talent from other regions," allowing high-end talent from Xiamen to enjoy benefits from both locations.

“The semiconductor industry involves many links and requires high levels of coordination. To avoid ‘multiple management and poor coordination,’ we have established a special task force for the development of the Chizhou semiconductor industry. A city leader serves as the overall chain leader, and key personnel from departments such as the Development and Reform Commission, Science and Technology Bureau, Data Bureau, and Chizhou Economic Development Zone have been drawn to form a closed-loop working mechanism of ‘weekly scheduling, monthly reporting, and quarterly analysis,’” said He Na. She added that the task force is a “problem-solving station” for the development of the semiconductor industry, not only ensuring the smooth implementation of policies but also actively engaging with high-end resources and leading companies to promote the extension of the industrial chain towards the mid-to-high end.

A Comprehensive Overview: Anchoring New Tracks and Building Distinctive Clusters Today, Chizhou’s semiconductor industry has grown from a “spark” to a “prairie fire.” In 2024, the output value of the Chizhou Provincial Semiconductor Industry Cluster Development Base reached 27.6 billion yuan, with its growth rate consistently ranking among the top in the province for many years. From January to July this year, the added value of Chizhou’s semiconductor industry increased by 13.7% year-on-year, once again ranking among the top in the province. In mid-August, during a visit to Chizhou, the province's top officials fully affirmed the city's achievements and practices in semiconductor industry development in recent years. They also encouraged the local government to sincerely serve and support key enterprises, promoting their growth and development, and to collaborate with businesses to attract investment and talent across the industry chain, fostering industrial clusters.

As a core innovation platform for Chizhou's semiconductor industry, the Chizhou Pingtianhu Semiconductor Research Institute is also under accelerated construction. It is expected to obtain CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment) national-level laboratory certification by 2030. "After certification, this will become Chizhou's first national-level semiconductor testing platform. Companies will no longer need to send samples to Shanghai or Shenzhen for testing, reducing the testing cycle from 15 days to 3 days, significantly lowering testing costs, and making it a 'golden brand' for attracting investment to Chizhou's semiconductor industry," said Cao Sungen, Chairman of Juxin Semiconductor and a key figure in the institute's establishment, expressing his confidence.

Standing at a new starting point, Chizhou is accelerating its development along a new track. In Tontouch Technology's plan, an OLED LCD panel project with a total investment of 2 billion yuan is already on the agenda. "We plan to purchase 20,000 square meters of factory space in the park, and production is expected to begin next year, filling the gap in front-end manufacturing of display panels in Chizhou," Bin Yongqian told reporters. He added that after the project goes into production, it will achieve independent production across the entire chain from touchscreen to panel to complete machine. Anxin Electronics' automotive-grade 6-inch wafer project has officially started production; Juxin Semiconductor's second-phase packaging and testing production line will complete commissioning by the end of the year, and its annual output value will increase to 800 million yuan after reaching full production, further consolidating its global market advantage in photovoltaic protection devices.

"In the next five years, we aim to help build a distinctive domestic semiconductor industry cluster!" During the reporter's visit, the goals of many semiconductor company leaders in the park and the local government were highly aligned. The industrial blueprint for Chizhou Economic Development Zone is even clearer: "To promote the construction of the Pingtianhu Semiconductor Research Institute into a national-level certification platform, deepen industrial collaboration with cities along the Yangtze River Delta G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, and focus on attracting projects that extend and supplement the industrial chain, such as automotive-grade chip design and third-generation semiconductor materials, striving to achieve a semiconductor industry output value of 100 billion yuan by 2030." Chizhou's thirteen-year journey in the semiconductor industry is a vivid example of industrial transformation in the Anhui River Economic Belt. "We have worked tirelessly, one term after another, to give 'Chizhou chips' a greater voice in the global industrial chain. This vibrant and fertile land will surely achieve even greater breakthroughs and run faster on the 'chip' track," said Yi Yan, member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Chizhou Economic Development Zone, in an interview.

Contact:Mr. Bin

E-mail:
binyq@ahtongchi.com

Phone:
+86-0566-5229929

Address:
Building 1, Fu'an Industrial Park, Chizhou Development Zone, Guichi District, Chizhou City, Anhui Province