News on China's scientific and technological development.

Yes China has been spending big billions since last year on new fabs in addition to chip design R&D and domestic semiconductor equipment R&D etc.

2017:
Tsinghua Unigroup to Invest $30 Billion in Nanjing Memory Fab, Increasing Total Fab Investment to $70 Billion


China's Top Chipmaker Secures $22 Billion to Expand Globally


Raising even more funds for 2018:
China Is Raising Up to $31.5 Billion to Fuel Chip Vision


China gets big boost in semiconductor equipment localization

If the USA component is irreplaceable then banning the important part to be exported to China's tech industries will " kill " them?

Banning exports to ZTE or not, China is currently a leader in 5G readiness.

China is winning the high stakes race to dominate 5G
‘When countries lose global leadership in a generation of wireless, jobs are shed and technology innovation gets exported overseas… these are the serious stakes’

From US regulatory action and proposed legislation it has become clear that America is worried about China’s advances in fifth-generation wireless systems, or 5G, and new research shows they have good reason to be.

China holds a narrow lead over its competition in 5G readiness, according to telecoms research firm Analysys Mason.

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, released on Monday, found that China’s proactive government policies along with “industry momentum,” contributed to their current advantage.

“When countries lose global leadership in a generation of wireless, jobs are shed and technology innovation gets exported overseas,” Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner was

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. “Conversely, leading the world in wireless brings significant economic benefits, as the US has seen with its 4G leadership. These are the serious stakes that face American policymakers in the escalating global race to 5G.”

CTIA also played up the importance of findings, urging the policy makers in Washington to wake up to the importance of the technology.

“The United States will not get a second chance to win the global 5G race,” Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA President and CEO was quoted as saying. “I’m optimistic we will leapfrog China because key leaders in the Administration, on Capitol Hill, and at the FCC are focused on the reforms needed to win the race,” she added.

Despite her optimism, the report found that the US has fallen behind nearly all the potential early adopters in one area of preparedness.

“At the end of 2018, the US will rank sixth out of the 10 countries in mid-band (3–24GHz) spectrum availability, a critical band for 5G,” CTIA summarized from the report. “The US joins Russia and Canada as the only countries currently without announced plans to allocate mid-band spectrum on an exclusive basis to mobile by the end of 2020.”

Meanwhile, “all major Chinese providers have committed to specific launch dates and the government has committed to at least 100 MHz of mid-band spectrum and 2,000 MHz of high-band spectrum for each wireless provider.”

While falling behind in spectrum availability, the US ranked just behind South Korea in third place thanks to wireless provider investment in the area, with many firms committing to launch 5G service by the end of 2018. The study ranked Japan fourth in terms of preparedness.

While the American wireless industry plays catchup in the fast-paced and high-stakes race to lead in the area, Washington is trying to play defense. In addition to locking Chinese 5G leader Huawei out of the US, government agencies are also trying to form a united front with allies against Beijing.

Last February, during a visit from Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to Washington, US intelligence agencies

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on Beijing’s cyber espionage, deemed among the “top two” risks on the allies’ security agenda.

“When you control telco networks, you can control everything,” one intelligence official said, according to a person present at the briefing

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Huawei shows its 5G hand, including a 2019 5G handset launch

At a recent event Huawei made a number of announcements regarding its strategic direction for the next few years, with an emphasis on 5G.

The event was Huawei’s own Global Analyst Summit in Shenzhen – the 15th such occasion. It managed to fit some substance in among the usual self-congratulation and miscellaneous corporate propaganda and, while we weren’t there, we spoke to Counterpoint Analyst Neil Shah who was and who has been throughout.

The tweet that most caught our eye was the announcement that Huawei will be launching a 5G smartphone in the second half of 2019 running its own 5G chip. “This points towards their Mate flagship model which launches normally in September timeframe,” Shah told Telecoms.com. “Furthermore, the first wave of 5G devices will be routers, CPE followed by mobile hotpots in early 2019 with their own chipset and then 5G smartphones and possibly an ARM based laptop from the in-house Kirin branded SoCs.”



Huawei seems to be pretty handy at SoCs these days, with Shah saying it pretty much caught up with Qualcomm from 4.5G onwards. “Almost two in three Huawei smartphones sold in Q4 2017, had an in-house Kirin branded SoC, rest was Qualcomm or Mediatek,” said Shah. Another thing Huawei shared was that building a 5G smartphone is more challenging than 3G or 4G as these will include multi-modes (2G,3G,4G,4.9G, 5G SA/NSA) and mmWave support, which makes the RF integration and positioning more complicated.

“Furthermore, a 5G phone needs 5x more processing power, 2.5x more power consumption and 1.3x board size. So Huawei is working on building ASIC 5G chips for smartphones, which is phenomenal! ASIC chips are used for bitcoin mining, so maybe in future you can mine bitcoin on your phone.

The silicon side of things from Huawei often goes under the radar, perhaps because it’s involved in so much other stuff. “They have been almost on par with Qualcomm in terms of performance (from my personal experience) and in terms of technology not far behind especially 4G onwards due to growing share of 4G and 5G patents and IP,” said Shah.

Coincidentally Counterpoint has recently published its global 5G smartphone forecast, which anticipates fully ramping in 2021 to exceed 100 million units shipped. “Growth in the early commercial phase of 5G is expected to be low due to several factors,” said Shah’s colleague Tom Kang. “There are still forward looking 5G standards that are unconfirmed, creating uncertainty around product and service opportunities. We also expect 5G chips to have a higher price point which will initially drive the cost of devices up. 5G capable devices will be premium only in the beginning. Also only a handful of countries will be deploying the first 5G infrastructure.”



Huawei also seemed to strike a cautious note on the short-term prospects for 5G, with commercial use-cases also not expected to make a serious appearance until 2021. “In near to mid-term Fixed Wireless Access is going to be huge as an alternative to fibre and DSL, especially in NSA mode,” said Shah. “Post 2024 in Standalone mode, AR,VR gaming, autonomous vehicles, intelligent manufacturing and smart grids which require less than 10ms end-to-end latency will be key.”

The other main pillar of 5G is IoT and Huawei seems to be serving up some pretty competitive silicon in this area too. “Huawei has pioneered NB-IoT networking and is driving the ecosystem from chip (Boudica) to platform (LiteOS) to cloud (Huawei IoT cloud),” said Shah. “Huawei’s upcoming Boudica 150 in Q2 2018will integrate MCU and modem into one single chip with a target cost of under $2, which is very disruptive considering the average LTE-M to 4G chip goes for $10 to $70. Also it will allow faster time-to-market, bringing it down from months to weeks from an interoperability and testing perspective. So far most of the chipsets in the IoT modules have been discrete (as opposed to integrated SoC) solutions.

On top of what we learned from Shah, Huawei has chucked out a couple of press releases from the event. The headline propaganda was Huawei’s ‘vision for an intelligent world of the future’. “In an age defined by greatness, Huawei aspires to become a great company,” said Huawei Rotating Chairman, Eric Xu. “We want to help mankind take its next step forward. This is the basis of our new vision and mission: Bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.”

To underline these lofty aspirations Huawei has published a report entitled Global Industry Vision 2025, which features a bunch of predictions and forecasts distilled in to three main ‘visions’. Firstly it sees 40 billion personal smart devices and 100 billion connections around the world by 2025. Secondly it anticipates 60 million vehicles will be connected to 5G networks and 100% of new vehicles connected to the internet by that time. Lastly Huawei predicts that the digital economy will be worth US$23 trillion in seven years.

Huawei likes these big corporate extravaganzas and, while there is usually a fair bit of forgettable hot air, they also serve as a pretty substantial statement of intent and throw down the gauntlet to its competitors. Ericsson and Nokia used to do more of this sort of thing and must feel under pressure to raise their game once more each time one of these is held.

now I read
How did Shenzhen become China's 'Silicon Valley'
2018-04-19 20:49 GMT+8

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Over the past four decades, the southern Chinese city Shenzhen has been the vanguard in Beijing’s efforts to liberalize China's economy. But the city’s growth model has changed several times.

Yumin Village neighbors Hong Kong, one of the richest communities in the Chinese city.

A former village chief, 77-year-old Deng Zhibiao said 40 years ago, everybody in the city wanted to move to Hong Kong.

"Back in those days, most villagers fled to Hong Kong. There were only about 100 people who stayed here. And the only reason they stayed is that they couldn’t find ways to leave," said Deng.

Soon after though, China’s reform and opening up began, and Shenzhen entered a new era as the frontier of the country’s experiment.

In its early years, Shenzhen’s economy boomed on the back of Hong Kong capitals, factories, and minds. Deng’s village also found its first pot of gold.

"We copied many business models from Hong Kong. Some people started to do shipping business, purchasing goods from Hong Kong. Some opened restaurants. And some people sold river sand to the construction sites," he said.

In just a few years, Yumin became China’s first village to reach annual per capita income of 10,000 yuan.

Millions of people moved from interior areas to Shenzhen for opportunities in factories, offices and business.

That made the city a "world factory," producing cell phones, computers, electronics, and apparel for domestic and foreign consumers. In 2007, Shenzhen's overseas exports reached over 150 billion US dollars, ranking first for 15 consecutive years in China.

"In this export-oriented era, a complete supply chain of the tech sector was established in Shenzhen,” 32-year-old Xie Tiandi, senior manager of world’s largest drone maker DJI, told CGTN.

In fact, experts now put DJI on a par with giants like Huawei and Tencent as Shenzhen continues to transform into an innovation-driven economy.

Xie’s company just launched the latest industrial thermal camera. He said the camera has been widely used in the US, China, and Africa for forest fire alarming, grid-maintenance, anti-poaching and even anti-terrorism.

Talking about what brought him to Shenzhen, Xie said he came to the city before the explosion of the mobile Internet and smart hardware.

"Thanks to the industrial capabilities nurtured in previous decades, when the new era came, new technologies quickly empowered Shenzhen’s industries to upgrade. So Shenzhen becomes the so-called Chinese Silicon Valley,” he said.

Xie thanked the industrial environment in both the city and the Pearl River Delta region.

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Interesting reading

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and very well worded last paragraph

“If your plan is for one year,” went an old Chinese saying, “plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children.” Two and half thousand years later chancellor Gwan Zhong might update his proverb, swapping rice for bitcoin and trees for artificial intelligence, but I’m sure he’d stand by his final point. In the digital age, making the most of our brain power matters more than ever. In the AI long game, China may have the lead."

now I read
Opinion: What can Chinese tech companies learn from ZTE's case?
2018-04-20 15:08 GMT+8

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The US government said Chinese telecommunications-gear maker ZTE violated the terms of a sanctions settlement and imposed a seven-year ban on purchases of crucial American technology needed to keep it competitive. Although it strikes a blow to ZTE, Chinese high-tech companies are able to learn valuable lessons from the case. Indeed, every cloud has a silver lining.

Innovation is a tech company's lifeline

Former US President Obama in 2009 referenced a story from the Bible to shed light on the country's economic revival plan: "Be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” instead of the “foolish man who built his house on the sand." Because, when it comes to houses on the sand, when "the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

In order to thrive amid fierce global competition, Chinese tech companies ought to be rooted in the "rock" rather than the "sand."

The "rock" is innovation. Without innovation, Chinese tech companies can't be independent from their Western counterparts. Mastering core technologies determines the future of Chinese companies and even the fate of the country. The US ban on ZTE could be seen as an opportunity for China's high-tech industry to switch their operating models from imitation to innovation.

China has the ability to innovate, as seen by its world-leading technology, ranging from space exploration to super computers. Although designing its own microchips is a challenge, China has no alternative but to do it, no matter how difficult it is. Private capital could also play a more active role in high-tech innovation. The government could encourage research and development through subsidies and reduced taxes.

Chinese tech companies should not underestimate the value of compliance

ZTE's case illustrates that realizing the value of risk compliance is of vital importance for Chinese tech companies operating in foreign markets. The company made the wrong decision in selling parts to Iran – a country banned by the US via its economic sanctions.

There's a lesson Chinese firms can learn from ZTE's case: don't underestimate the value of compliance. Chinese tech companies should form a department in charge of the issues related to risk compliance, if their ambition is to operate smoothly in the West. The department should to be independent in order to be objective.

Niall Coburn, an intelligence expert at Thomson Reuters, points out that "understanding the host country’s laws, from the securities regulation, management responsibilities, labor law requirements and human resources expectations" is essential. Understanding local law must be the priority. There may also be local government complaints that have to be dealt with, especially with the vast differences between the laws that exist in China.

"Chinese law is completely different and more codified than its counterparts in the West. Chinese companies need to consider proper procedures for access to local and international arbitration, which may be the answer. Additionally, regulators and governments in home jurisdictions will want procedures in place, either by the company or independently, to resolve financial, commercial and labor issues," Coburn said.

Chinese tech companies should encourage healthy enterprise culture when doing business in the West. Understanding and following local rules should be prerequisites in their decision-making processes, which are not only appropriate for tech companies, but necessary for Chinese companies investing overseas.

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duncanidaho said:

Interesting reading

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and very well worded last paragraph

“If your plan is for one year,” went an old Chinese saying, “plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children.” Two and half thousand years later chancellor Gwan Zhong might update his proverb, swapping rice for bitcoin and trees for artificial intelligence, but I’m sure he’d stand by his final point. In the digital age, making the most of our brain power matters more than ever. In the AI long game, China may have the lead."

Click to expand...

Hmmm I have often read on this very forum and Western Uni lecturors and tutors that the gap between Asian/Chinese under/post graduates and their European schooled counterparts is virtually non existent.

vincent said:

US almost killed a huge Chinese company ZTE a couple of years ago through sanction of parts. Chinese government would've been irresponsible if it doesn't encourage import substitution

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It seems that ZTE doesn't sell network communications gear in the US (like Huawei, not by choice but blocked by the US government). Only consumer handsets and broadband routers are sold in the US. These also contribute only 5.6% of its profits globally.
Networking equipment contributes 86% of its profits.



So this recent ban that impacts ZTE consumer products in the US won't affect it much.

Further reading:

KlRc80 said:

It seems that ZTE doesn't sell network communications gear in the US (like Huawei, not by choice but blocked by the US government). Only consumer handsets and broadband routers are sold in the US. These also contribute only 5.6% of its profits globally.
Networking equipment contributes 86% of its profits.

So this recent ban that impacts ZTE consumer products in the US won't affect it much.

Further reading:

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Click to expand...

You don't understand the ban. ZTE equipments contain a lot of American components. No American parts, no products.