SMIC

Full briefing

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) was founded in Shanghai in 2000 and has grown into China's largest semiconductor foundry, with fabs in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Shenzhen. It is publicly listed in Hong Kong (0981.HK) and on the Shanghai STAR Market (688981.SH). Despite substantial state support and a technical roadmap that once aimed for competitive parity with TSMC and Samsung, SMIC faces an equipment ceiling imposed by Western export controls. SMIC's technology ceiling sits at approximately 7–14nm. In late 2023, Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphone was found to contain a Kirin 9000s processor reportedly fabricated by SMIC at a 7nm-class node — a surprise achievement accomplished without EUV, using multiple patterning with DUV equipment. However, this process is slow, expensive, and yield-limited compared to TSMC's mainstream 7nm production. Without EUV access, scaling below 5nm is considered effectively impossible given current multi-patterning limitations. The December 2020 Entity List addition prevents SMIC from obtaining U.S.-origin equipment and technology for sub-10nm production without a license that is presumed to be denied. It can still receive some older-generation tooling under legacy licenses — including etch, CVD, and deposition equipment from Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research — for mature nodes. Silicon wafers from Shin-Etsu and photoresist from Sumitomo Chemical continue to flow under existing arrangements. SMIC's strategic role in China's semiconductor self-sufficiency push makes it a central actor in the export-control story. The Chinese government has committed hundreds of billions of yuan to support SMIC and the broader domestic semiconductor ecosystem, including domestic equipment makers (AMEC, NAURA) and EDA/materials suppliers, aiming to reduce reliance on the restricted Western supply chain over the long term.