China will invest more in chip design next year after having invested about 480 billion yuan ($69 billion) in wafer making since the beginning of 2015, industry officials said yesterday.
Chip design represents advanced technology and involves high added value in the integrated circuit industry. China is the world's biggest market of chips, which are used in smartphones, TVs, cars and high-technology products like robots and drones.
There are now 1,362 IC design companies in the Chinese mainland, almost double the 736 in 2015, and the number is expected to grow in 2017, said Taiwan-based researcher TrendForce.
Government funds and related firms have invested 480 billion yuan in wafer plants in the mainland since 2015, including a 70 billion yuan investment from China's national IC fund.
The government will focus on IC design and research in 2017, according to TrendForce.
