According to a report by China Daily on March 12…
China is stepping up efforts to strengthen its domestic semiconductor materials industry as policymakers and industry leaders push to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and secure critical technology supply chains.
Speaking during China’s annual “two sessions” meetings, Li Shaoping, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress and chairman of chemical materials company Sinophorus, urged the government to expand policy support for the sector, which remains heavily dependent on overseas technology despite recent breakthroughs by domestic firms.
Semiconductor manufacturing relies on hundreds of highly specialized electronic chemicals. Among the most technically demanding are photo-initiators used in photoresists — a critical material in lithography processes used to produce integrated circuits.
According to Li, these materials have long been dominated by suppliers from the United States, Japan and South Korea, with China historically relying on imports for more than 95 percent of its supply.
However, Chinese researchers are beginning to close the gap.
A research laboratory associated with Li’s team recently spent three years overcoming key synthesis and purification challenges, achieving performance levels comparable to imported materials. The technology was transferred to Sinophorus late last year in a transaction valued at more than 46 million yuan ($6.4 million), allowing the company to move the innovation from laboratory research to industrial production.
“Only when innovation moves from the lab to the production line can it truly solve industrial challenges,” Li said.
The company said it has since addressed more than 70 supply bottlenecks in electronic chemicals. Its production capacity has reached 460,000 metric tons, making it one of China’s largest electronic chemicals producers.
Beyond semiconductor materials, Sinophorus has also expanded across the broader phosphorus chemical value chain, aiming to move Chinese producers into higher-value segments of global specialty materials markets.
The company has reported progress in industrial-scale production of black phosphorus — an emerging advanced material with potential applications in batteries, electronics and optoelectronics. According to the company, its manufacturing process has reduced raw material costs from around 150 yuan per kilogram to about 90 yuan.
Sinophorus has also entered the fast-growing new energy materials sector, developing multiple generations of lithium iron phosphate battery materials.
Li said the integration of technological innovation with industrial production is key to building what Chinese policymakers describe as “new quality productive forces”, a concept referring to innovation-led industrial upgrading.
Looking ahead, the company plans to increase research investment and focus on materials required for advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes.
“Our goal is to move China’s microelectronics materials industry into the global first tier,” Li said.
At the policy level, Li called for stronger national coordination to support the semiconductor materials industry. He suggested improving industrial planning to avoid excessive duplication, expanding pilot-scale testing platforms to accelerate commercialization of research results, and strengthening recycling policies to promote greener industrial development.
He also emphasized the importance of long-term investment in basic research and deeper collaboration between government, industry, universities and research institutes.
“Key core technologies cannot simply be bought,” Li said. “True breakthroughs must rely on independent innovation.”