Parent of China’s CXMT to Invest $2.4 Billion in New Chip Plant

Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News

A wafer with the through-silicon via (TSV) process. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The controlling firm of China’s top chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc. will invest no less than 17.1 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in an advanced packaging plant in Shanghai that could be used to make AI memory.

Innotron, CXMT’s parent, signed a contract with the local government in June via a Shanghai subsidiary to secure land, and the new site is expected to start production in mid-2026, according to official documents published on a Shanghai government website.

The project will focus on a wide range of packaging technologies, including an advanced process called TSV, or through-silicon vias, required to make high-bandwidth memory used to power artificial intelligence applications, according to one of the documents. The facility is expected to provide packaging capacity for 30,000 units per month.

Earlier this year, Innotron secured a deal with a number of investors to raise a total of 10.8 billion yuan, according to a March exchange filing from GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc., one of the parties involved.

Innotron plays a critical role in China’s efforts to compete with the US in the emerging AI field that requires cutting-edge semiconductors. However, China’s chipmaking capabilities have been hampered by a US-led multinational campaign to restrict the Asian nation’s access to advanced equipment, a sector that is dominated by American, Dutch and Japanese suppliers.

The Biden administration has also banned Nvidia Corp. from selling its most cutting-edge AI semiconductors to China, which is depending more on alternative offerings from Huawei Technologies Co. However, it is unclear who is making high-bandwidth memory for Huawei’s AI accelerators.

Hefei-based CXMT started to develop chipmaking technologies eight years ago with patents from now defunct German firm Qimonda AG. It makes chips used in a wide range of products, including computer servers and smart vehicles. It is also trying to develop AI memory, outlets including Nikkei Asia have reported.

It competes with US-based Micron Technology Inc. and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. The Innotron subsidiary has drawn US scrutiny, with the Biden administration weighing sanctions against the Chinese chipmaker, Bloomberg News has reported.

--With assistance from Gao Yuan.