What is the reality of huge fraud when a Chinese semiconductor maker goes bankrupt before operations while holding a debt of over 2 trillion yen?
by Amy Cheng / NPR
Against the backdrop of trade friction between the United States and China, Chinese semiconductor maker Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing (HSMC)
A Cautionary Tale For China's Ambitious Chipmakers: NPR
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/980305760/a-cautionary-tale-for-chinas-ambitious-chipmakers
HSMC started the project in November 2017 as a joint venture between the Dongxihu District Government of Wuhan City and Beijing Guangliang Lantu Technology. Since semiconductors have been becoming an important strategic material for some time, HSMC has made a spectacular start as a government-oriented public-private project, but it is known that it already had many problems from the beginning.
According to a report by 36Kr, a Chinese technical news media, Cao Shan, one of the co-founders of Beijing Kogaku Indigo Technology, had a final education in elementary school and the name 'Cao Shan' was also a pseudonym. Another co-founder, Li Xueyen, was also a person who worked on selling alcohol and reselling Chinese herbs, and had no knowledge of semiconductors.
To remedy the lack of know-how, the founders of HSMC have hired prominent semiconductor engineer Chiang Shangyi as an executive. However, in June 2020, shortly after taking office in 2019, Shangyi retired from HSMC. Later that year, he became Vice Chairman of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) , a major semiconductor foundry in China. He daily newspaper · South China Morning Post of Hong Kong interview the other hand, it says the 'time spent in HSMC was a nightmare.'
HSMC failed to retain Shangyi, but the fact that he was enrolled for a short period of time was a great weapon. Despite a strong request from the United States to 'not sell semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China,' ASML, the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing equipment Dutch company, sold used exposure equipment to HSMC. It is said that it was because of Mr. Shangyi's name value.
The successful purchase of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from ASML has earned HSMC a great deal of praise in China, but by the end of 2019, cash flow had deteriorated and payments to factory builders had been delayed. According to a December 2019 communication record obtained by Mr. Feng, HSMC contractors said, 'About four months ago, payments (from HSMC) began to run short, and now the delinquent amount is 18 million yuan (about 18 million yuan). It has swelled to 300 million yen), 'he told another contractor.
You can find out more about HSMC's financial difficulties by reading the following articles.
China's semiconductor manufacturing industry is in trouble due to lack of funds --GIGAZINE
Due to poor cash flow, HSMC dismissed all employees in February 2021 and virtually went bankrupt. According to court documents, the Wuhan Municipal Government has seized HSMC's approximately 300 acres of land and ASML's semiconductor manufacturing equipment in order to recover an estimated 128 billion yuan (approximately 2.16 trillion yen) in debt. thing.
Despite failures like HSMC, China has more than 20,000 new semiconductor manufacturers in 2020 alone, with no sign of an end to the semiconductor boom. In response to this situation, a spokeswoman for China's National Development and Reform Commission , Meng Wei, said in October 2020, 'If nothing is done, there is a risk that low-level semiconductor chip manufacturing plants with overlapping manufacturing fields will be overwhelmed. ', Showing a sense of crisis.
Related Posts:
in Hardware, Posted by log1l_ks