China’s CXMT gets pledge of support as provincial party chief vows chip-industry expansion

Three weeks into his position as Communist Party secretary of Anhui province, Li Lecheng toured China's leading memory chip manufacturer, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), on Wednesday. The visit aimed to bolster the integrated circuits (ICs) sector as a burgeoning pillar industry. Li encouraged CXMT to broaden its product range and pursue aggressive expansion in both local and international markets.

He highlighted the importance of domestic innovation, urging the firm to expedite the introduction of new technologies and products. According to a photograph published by Anhui News, CXMT chairman Zhu Yiming participated in the tour and presented Li with an overview of the company's offerings.

Late last week, CXMT announced significant advancements in developing a novel memory-cell architecture aimed at increasing memory density. This breakthrough is also being pursued by competitors like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in South Korea. Cao Kanyu, CXMT's president, announced via statement that a new server memory product incorporating this innovation would be launched by year-end.

During a post-tour symposium, Li, previously in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pledged unwavering support for CXMT's growth and enhancement of operations. In the first half of 2026, CXMT's revenue surged 874 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 150.3 billion yuan (US$22.5 billion). Meanwhile, its net income attributable to shareholders increased an even more impressive 3,428 percent year-on-year to 77.6 billion yuan for the six-month period.

Li emphasized that Anhui would utilize CXMT's position as an industrial supply chain leader to attract additional upstream and downstream partners, ultimately strengthening the province's IC sector. The province aims to cultivate world-class advanced manufacturing clusters, he added.

Established in 2016, CXMT has been a primary focus for the province's past party secretaries. Li's predecessor, Liang Yanshun, visited the firm in July 2024. This strategy, dubbed the "Hefei model," is being emulated by numerous cities across China. Under this framework, Hefei has been supporting promising yet loss-making enterprises since 2008, injecting capital into strategic industries and offering incentives to attract high-tech companies.

Besides CXMT, Hefei now houses notable corporations such as electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Nio. Official data revealed that the city contributes approximately one out of every 12 EVs produced nationwide yearly, with an annual production capacity of about 1.37 million units.