The farce of lithography machine has come to an end, and the development of China's chip industry is unstoppable
In 2023, the "farce" surrounding lithography machine equipment has attracted global attention. As a key equipment for chip manufacturing, lithography has always been one of the bottlenecks in the development of China's chip industry. Against the backdrop of severe restrictions imposed by the United States on China's chip industry, Dutch lithography machine manufacturer ASML once suspended the shipment of advanced EUV lithography machines to China, triggering a long-term "lithography machine farce".
At the beginning of 2024, this "farce" finally came to an end. The Dutch government has made a major decision to allow ASML to continue exporting immersion DUV lithography machines to China. This decision was seen as an official statement by the Netherlands, alleviating the long-standing "lithography farce".
The reasons behind the statement of the Netherlands
The Netherlands made this decision for three main reasons:
China is an important trading partner of the Netherlands. According to statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and the Netherlands in 2022 reached 868.4 billion yuan. In today's globalized world, no country can stay out of it, and China's huge market is crucial to the economic development of the Netherlands.
ASML's revenue accounts for one-third of its revenue in China, which is the largest market for ASML in the world. If ASML is banned from exporting lithography machines to China, it will directly affect its business in China, which in turn will have a huge impact on the entire company's operations.
If ASML is forced to move out of the Netherlands, it will seriously affect the economic development of the Netherlands. ASML is the largest publicly traded company in the Netherlands and the backbone of the country's technology industry. If ASML leaves, it will bring incalculable damage to the Dutch economy.
Based on the above three considerations, the Dutch government finally made the decision to allow ASML to continue to export DUV lithography machines to China. This decision is not only conducive to safeguarding the economic interests of the Netherlands itself, but also conducive to easing tensions between China and the United States in the field of chips.
The development of China's chip industry is unstoppable
Although the Netherlands' statement this time is conducive to alleviating the "lithography machine farce", foreign media believe that the development of China's chip industry has become unstoppable. In the past few years, China has made great strides in the independent development of the chip industry.
China has made a breakthrough in domestic lithography machines. In 2022, Chinese scientists successfully developed a prototype of the principle of a domestic EUV lithography machine, filling a gap in this field. Although there is still a certain gap with the international advanced level, this marks a major breakthrough in China's key core technologies.
China is speeding up the cultivation of local chip talents. In recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies and measures to vigorously support the cultivation of chip talents, including the establishment of special funds and the provision of tax incentives. More and more overseas chip talents have begun to return, injecting new vitality into China's chip industry.
China is accelerating the development of an independent and controllable chip industry. In 2023, the Chinese government issued the "Chip Industry Revitalization Action Plan", proposing that by 2025, China's chip self-sufficiency rate will reach 70%. In order to achieve this goal, China has not only increased its investment in the chip industry, but also actively promoted the localization of the industrial chain and reduced its dependence on foreign countries.
Under the vigorous promotion of the national strategy, China's chip industry will usher in a new round of rapid development. Even if there are temporary shortcomings in key equipment such as lithography machines, China is making up for this deficiency through independent innovation. The development momentum of China's chip industry has been unstoppable.
The Dutch government allowed ASML to continue to export lithography equipment to China, marking the end of the long-standing "lithography machine farce". This decision is not only conducive to safeguarding the economic interests of the Netherlands itself, but also conducive to easing tensions between China and the United States in the field of chips.
The development of China's chip industry has become unstoppable. China has made great progress in the research and development of domestic lithography machines, the cultivation of chip talents, and the localization of the industrial chain. Under the vigorous promotion of the national strategy, China's chip industry will usher in a new round of rapid development, and eventually achieve independent and controllable.
As the title of the article says, "The farce of the lithography machine is over? The Netherlands officially stated its position, and the People's Daily was right." The Netherlands' statement this time eased tensions, and the development of China's chip industry is unstoppable, which confirms the previous tone of the People's Daily. China's chip industry will make great strides on the road of independent innovation and make unremitting efforts to achieve industrial independence and controllability.