Wuxi: "Alternative Stars" in China's IC Design Industry

As for the emerging industries such as the Internet of Things and new energy, both at home and abroad, Wuxi's integrated circuit (IC) design industry in Jiangsu Province is not well known. This city, which once hosted the 908 project of China's first-generation microelectronics industry, is now one of the four largest gathering places in the microelectronics industry in mainland China. In addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, it is the only second-tier city.

More than 90% of IC design capacity in Wuxi is concentrated in the Wuxi New Area. Last year, IC design companies sold about 3.89 billion yuan. "Although the data is not gorgeous, the per capita output value of enterprises exceeds one million, and they are the first of all emerging industries," said Chen Tianbao, director of the management center of the Information Technology Park of Wuxi New District, when he was interviewed by reporters on the 10th.

When it comes to IC design, Wuxi once occupied the core position on the national chip map. In the 1990s, China invested heavily in building the 908 and 909 “China Core” projects in order to catch up with Europe and the United States in the IC industry. The 908 engineering main undertaking company is the Wuxi Huajing Group, but in the end it failed to follow the international pace because of the level of research and development.

Although the project failed, the Chinese microelectronics industry has created a large number of talented people. Su Jia, deputy general manager of Wuxi Youda Electronics Co., Ltd., who was once a member of “Hua Jing” recalled that since the 909 project, most of the management personnel were from Wuxi, and even the United States’ Silicon Valley had quite a few experts at the time, Wu Xihua. Crystal is known as the "Huangpu Military Academy" of the Chinese chip industry in the industry.

Thanks to the accumulation of talents at that time, Wuxi's IC design industry did not fall, but in the subsequent internationalization of the market economy has emerged a unique landscape.

Since the start of the production of television sets and radio integrated circuits, Wuxi has maintained this tradition for decades afterwards, and it has been referred to by the industry as the "grass-root model" of the domestic IC design industry. Chen Tianbao said with a smile that today, after the introduction of overseas high-end talent brings a lot of technological innovation, such branding depends.

“In the past, almost all of the color TV chips were produced in Wuxi. Nowadays, electromagnetic ovens and microwave ovens are used. Many of the supporting chips are from companies here,” said Chen Jian, deputy general manager of Wuxi Chippen Microelectronics.

Beijing and Shanghai have focused on the research and development of the main chip and have invested heavily. The ups and downs have also been great. Wuxi has focused on the supporting chips and the revenue has been relatively stable. Chen Tianbao said that because it did not directly face the market, the financial crisis of previous years had little effect on local companies, and many companies even took advantage of some R&D teams to expand against the market.

Chen Tianbao introduced that in 2008, Wuxi and Shanghai were identified as the only two “microelectronic national high-tech industrial bases” in mainland China. At present, the total size of the mainland microelectronics industry is about 170 billion, and Wuxi accounts for about a quarter and is still an indispensable "China Core."

“In recent years, Wuxi’s IC design has also undergone a transformation. Talent has changed from a single Huajing system to an overseas returning department and college department. Products are also expanding from a single low-end consumer electronics to advanced power electronics and power supply series. The grassroots road will become more exciting."