Foreign media: "The United States is 'lying on the rails' to obstruct China, but it will only become a speed bump on the road to its chip development"
From the Trump administration to the Biden administration, the United States has "weaponized" semiconductor-related technologies and equipment, and the technology competition launched against China has intensified. In recent years, China has also promulgated corresponding policies and measures to support the development of the integrated circuit industry and accelerate the "localization" of chips. Under the call of the dream of "China Chip", a wave of returnees once emerged in the domestic chip field.
"The United States wants to contain China's chip industry, and this start-up proves that this is not an easy task", Reuters published a long article with this title on December 29, reporting in a rather "worried" tone on a Chinese chip company that joined by a former senior Silicon Valley Chinese executive after returning to China. Reuters quoted a proposal it received as saying that the company said it would launch chip design software that only a few Western companies have.
Although the report clearly stated that it did not have any "evidence" that Huaxin was using the "know-how" knowledge or technology of the Silicon Valley company, and none of the company's returned Chinese executives were accused of "misconduct", it still "side-by-side" all kinds of background information and comments from Western experts, hinting that there may be "intellectual property" disputes, and worried that the efforts of the United States and the West to restrict China have become more "challenging".
In response, Huaxincheng responded that the company has a "strict review process" to ensure that it does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry pointed out in a statement that China has established a legal system that conforms to international rules to protect intellectual property rights, and that China's scientific and technological achievements "do not rely on stealing or robbing, but are the result of the wisdom and sweat of the Chinese people."
In response to the United States' continued encirclement and suppression of China, some industry experts believe that the U.S. export restrictions may be delayed, but it is unlikely to hinder the development of China's chip technology. Michael Bruck, the former general manager of China at US chip-making giant Intel Corp., told Reuters: "The US is lying on the railroad tracks trying to stop China, but it will only be a speed bump that will push China to become more independent." ”
On November 8, 2023, at the Shanghai International Import Expo, chip wafer display. Image source: Visual China
What caught the attention of Reuters was Liguo "Recoo" Zhang, a former senior Chinese executive in Silicon Valley, who had worked for Siemens EDA, a subsidiary of German industrial giant Siemens in the United States, for more than 10 years, and joined Huaxincheng with at least three Chinese colleagues who also worked at Siemens EDA in the past two years and held a majority stake. According to company documents, in July 2022, Zhang Liguo served as the CEO of Huaxincheng.
EDA stands for Electronic Design Automation. As chip design software, EDA tools can perform functional design, physical design, verification, etc. of VLSI chips. EDA itself is extremely complex, and it is of great significance to realize chip autonomy. If the EDA tool is autonomous, the prerequisite for semiconductor autonomy can be basically achieved.
According to the report, before joining Huaxincheng, Zhang Liguo served as a product director at Siemens EDA. Siemens EDA, formerly known as Mentor Graphics, was acquired by Siemens in 2017 and is known as the three global EDA giants together with Synopsys and Cadence, occupying about 70% of the global EDA market.
According to Reuters, in its business plan for investors in 2022, Huaxincheng said that it would launch a Chinese version of OPC algorithm software in early 2024, and said that it would "assist China in becoming self-reliant in chip technology." OPC software, or "Optical Proximity Correction" software, is a type of EDA tool. According to the official webpage of Huaxincheng, the company focuses on the research and development of OPC core algorithms.
According to the report, Huaxincheng's business plan has attracted well-capitalized Chinese investors, including SMIC. However, according to an email from Huaxincheng, the prospectus reviewed by Reuters is "outdated". Huaxincheng said that the company's goals have changed, and investors are mainly "private institutions and individuals". The email would not say how much money the company had raised or what products it intended to develop, saying the company's business plan was "still under evaluation."
In chip manufacturing, the designed pattern needs to be transferred to the silicon wafer through a lithography imaging system. As the chip size continues to shrink, the exposure pattern on the silicon wafer becomes distorted. Opc software must be optimized before lithography of chips below 90nm or even below 180nm can be manufactured. Some experts have described that "without OPC, all chip manufacturers will lose the ability to transform chip designs into chip products".
Reuters mentioned that EDA tools on the market are mainly developed and sold by American companies, but in recent years, the U.S. government has stepped up efforts to restrict Chinese companies from accessing EDA tools through export controls and other restrictions. U.S. officials have repeatedly hyped up what China's development in the tech sector poses a so-called "long-term threat" to the U.S. economy and security, and have expressed "concern" about China's ability to leverage advanced chips.
The report also continued the rhetoric of US officials, who exaggerated the so-called China threat by "seeing the big from the small". "The story of Huaxincheng has never been reported before," Reuters wrote, "and it illustrates the challenges the West faces in hindering China's development of advanced microchip technology." ”
Although the report acknowledged that there was no so-called "evidence" that Huaxin was using knowledge or technology that Siemens EDA or other companies "considered proprietary", neither Huaxin nor its executives were accused of "misconduct", and reporters could not determine the progress Huaxin had made in selling OPC software, they still "sidelined" all kinds of background information and comments from Western experts, and hinted that there may be "intellectual property" disputes.
EDA can be used for chip design, pictured is a screenshot of the free EDA software KiCad Image source: Wikimedia Commons
For example, the report quoted industry experts as saying that Huaxin followed the model of Chinese companies based on foreign technology. Even if Huaxincheng's senior management did not acquire the assets of the original company, the relevant technology was too complex, and it would take years of dealing with existing suppliers to provide similar products. Jan-Peter Kleinhans, director of the technology and geopolitics department at the German think tank Foundation for New Responsibility (SNV), said: "It will be difficult, to say the least, to develop an OPC from scratch within this timeframe, without any existing intellectual property." ”
In response, Peilun "Allen" Chang, Huaxincheng's chief operating officer, said in an email that the company complies with both Chinese and American laws, has a "strict review process" to ensure that it does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, and is "constantly monitoring emerging and existing regulations to ensure that our operations comply with applicable legal standards."
Notably, he also mentioned in the email that restrictions from the United States were one of the reasons why Zhang Liguo and others left Siemens EDA and switched to Huaxincheng, because these policies affected the opportunities they had at Siemens EDA and "narrowed the space for career development and participation in key projects."
China has repeatedly stated its position on the U.S. chip export controls to China. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the United States' concerns about the so-called "China threat" reflect the "Cold War and hegemonic mentality", and that the United States has abused export control measures and imposed illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Chinese companies, which deviates from the principle of fair competition and violates international economic and trade rules, and not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affects the rights and interests of American companies.
In a statement to Reuters, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman added that China has established a legal system "in line with international rules" to protect intellectual property rights, and that China's scientific and technological achievements "are the result of the wisdom, wisdom and hard work of the Chinese people."
In fact, industry experts also believe that U.S. export restrictions may delay, but are unlikely to hinder the development of China's chip technology. Michael Bruck, the former general manager of China at US chip-making giant Intel Corp., told Reuters: "The US is lying on the railroad tracks trying to stop China, but it will only be a speed bump that will push China to become more independent." ”
In today's era of globalization, most industries are more interconnected, and the $600 billion semiconductor industry is no exception. From raw materials to design to assembly, chips have clearly become a global industry, and the United States cannot repeat the methods of the Cold War. James Andrew Lewis, director of the Strategic Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, put it bluntly: "The United States cannot cut ties with China the way it did with the Soviet Union." ”
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