Can China’s chip ambitions reshape the global tech landscape?

China's chip ambitions have sparked discussions about reshaping the global tech landscape. In 2025, Huawei unveiled the Kirin 9030 Pro processor, a significant milestone for the country's semiconductor industry. The processor, manufactured by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), powered Huawei's flagship Mate 80 Pro smartphones.

However, tech analysis firm SemiAnalysis noted that the chip's performance was comparable to a 3-year-old flagship Android phone and its architecture lagged behind Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm's offerings.

China's aspirations in the chip industry are fueled by its 10-year Made in China 2025 master plan, launched in 2015. The plan aimed to transition the nation from producing low-end products to becoming a global leader in high-tech industries like semiconductors and electric vehicles. This shift drew attention from the United States, which had previously relied on trade policies and export restrictions to slow China's progress.

In response to the American restrictions, China intensified its investments in developing local capabilities in chip design, manufacturing, packaging, and equipment. Key players in this sector include Huawei for chip design, SMIC for foundry innovation, Yangtze Memory Technologies for NAND flash memory, and ChangXin Memory Technologies for DRAM production.

These efforts prompted the development of immersion deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, which could potentially enable Chinese chipmakers to produce more advanced chips than those like the Kirin 9030 Pro.

Immersion DUV works by using 193-nanometre light and a thin layer of purified water between the lens and the wafer to focus the light more effectively, allowing smaller patterns to be printed onto silicon wafers. This advancement could help address China's semiconductor production capabilities, but it falls short of the more powerful extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology. EUV machines use a shorter 13.5-nanometre light and can create more complex patterns, reducing the chances of errors and improving chip performance.

Currently, Dutch company ASML is the sole manufacturer of EUV lithography machines, thanks to export restrictions imposed by the US and its allies. While immersion DUV presents a significant step forward for China, it does not yet match the capabilities of EUV technology. Analyst Samirul Ariff Othman of Global Asia Consultant noted that immersion DUV could "plug an important hole" in China's semiconductor production architecture, but it is not a substitute for EUV technology.

He highlighted the importance of scaling the production of immersion DUV machines and achieving competitive yields.

The global semiconductor ecosystem is complex and interconnected, with key players in chip design, materials, manufacturing, and packaging spread across various economies. The United States leads in chip design, with US companies like Nvidia, Intel, and Qualcomm accounting for 46% of global semiconductor-design revenue. Chipmaking begins with raw materials such as quartz, purified, processed, and formed into ultra-pure silicon ingots.

These ingots are then sliced into thin wafers, and chips are fabricated on these wafers. Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung dominate advanced chip production, while Singapore plays crucial roles in various stages of the supply chain.