China’s state-supported chip fund invested 14.56 billion yuan ($1.99 billion) in a memory chip firm, Changxin Xinqiao. The investment by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, commonly called the Big Fund, accounts for 33.15% of Changxin Xinqiao’s total registered capital. This update was recorded on Oct. 26 in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. Changxin Xinqiao, established in 2021 in Hefei, Anhui province, is managed by Zhao Lun, who also oversees Changxin Memory Technology, a top memory chip firm in China.
Neither Changxin Xinqiao nor the Big Fund commented on Reuters’ inquiries. Earlier this year, the Big Fund invested 13 billion yuan in Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), a significant player in the global NAND memory market. YMTC, which has been expanding with state aid, was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2022 due to concerns over technology diversion to Huawei.
Changxin Xinqiao’s capital boost from the Big Fund is part of a broader capital expansion, with Changxin Xinan and Hefei Xinyi increasing their investments by 10.4 billion yuan and 14 billion yuan, respectively. Hefei Xinyi has ties to state asset regulators in Anhui.
The Big Fund, initiated in 2014, aims to advance China’s semiconductor sector, which trails behind the U.S., Taiwan, and South Korea. It amassed 138.7 billion yuan for its inaugural fund and 204 billion yuan for its second. Reuters noted that the Big Fund plans to secure about $40 billion in another round to compete with global rivals. However, the fund faced a corruption scandal last year, leading to an investigation into its former leader.
