SIA Welcomes Progress at U.S.-China Meeting on Semiconductor Issues

Tuesday, Nov 24, 2015, 5:30pm

by Semiconductor Industry Association


SIA today welcomed commitments by the Chinese government to shed greater daylight on its ongoing efforts to significantly expand its indigenous semiconductor industry. During meetings of the U.S.-China Joint-Committee on Commerce & Trade (JCCT) this week, China said its semiconductor industry investments will be market-based and free from government intervention. The JCCT, which is led by the Secretary of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), concluded annual meetings today in Guangzhou, China.

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China is investing upwards of $21 billion U.S. dollars into its National Integrated Circuit (IC) Industry Investment Fund, and regions and cities have announced nearly a dozen other IC industry investment funds of similar scope. SIA has long stressed that market forces and limited government intervention are critical to sustaining a healthy global semiconductor value chain, which is in the interest of both the United States and China. The progress made at the JCCT is a good first step. We are hopeful the Chinese government can translate these commitments into practice, finding ways to deepen – not isolate – itself from the global semiconductor value chain.

We also were encouraged by additional Chinese commitments regarding information and communications technology (ICT), including a promise to re-open banking sector ICT sales to U.S. firms, to notify the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its draft cybersecurity law for the insurance sector, and to recognize a key policy to limit China’s encryption rules to specialized – not mass-market – technology. The latter promise is consistent with the World Semiconductor Council Encryption Principles.

We thank Commerce Secretary Pritzker, USTR Ambassador Froman, and Vice Premier Wang Yang and their hardworking staff for working to achieve these commitments that will work to promote innovation and growth in the semiconductor and ICT industry.