China chip leaders urge national push to build ASML alternative
Mar 6th 2026
Top semiconductor executives warned China’s chip equipment sector is too fragmented to counter US export curbs and urged a coordinated national effort to build domestic EDA, wafer, and lithography capabilities, including EUV.
- Senior executives from SMIC, YMTC, Naura, and Empyrean said China’s chip equipment industry is too small, fragmented, and weak to replace ASML alone.
- They identified electronic design automation software, silicon wafers, and advanced manufacturing equipment, especially EUV lithography, as the areas most constrained by US export controls.
- The group called for consolidated national funding and strategy, warning that dispersed public funding dilutes progress.
- China’s 15th Five-Year Plan is expected to prioritize lithography and EDA development, and Big Fund III has redirected capital toward those targets.
- Domestic DUV tools are approaching 28nm capability but reaching sub-10nm will require new scanner designs and several more years of development.
- Replicating ASML will require overcoming yield and supply chain challenges plus decades of accumulated know-how and a large subcontractor ecosystem that China currently lacks.