China's chip purchases surged 33.6% in the first quarter
Latest update time：2021-08-30 22:54
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Driven by a large amount of imported electronic products and strong exports, China's foreign trade recorded good data in March, with imports increasing by 38.1% compared with the same period last year when the economy was severely hit by the epidemic.
China's imports fell 0.9% in March last year, but rose 38.1% in March this year compared with the same period last year, according to China Customs data released on Tuesday.
Iris Pang, an economist at ING Bank, said the highest import growth since February 2017 was "very distorting." Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected imports to grow by 24.4%.
China imported a large number of electronic components in March. Customs data showed that China's purchases of foreign integrated circuit products increased by 33.6% in the first quarter, and purchases of diodes and semiconductors increased by 52.1%.
Tommy Xie, an economist at Singapore's OCBC Bank, said this showed Beijing was preparing for a "potential technology war between China and the US" or creating new tensions by "stockpiling" electronic components.
In February, China only released the cumulative data of imported goods from January to February, which showed an increase of 22.2%. Due to the economic slowdown caused by the epidemic, China stopped publishing detailed trade data last year.
In terms of exports, China's exports in March increased by 30.6% year-on-year, which was lower than the 38% expected by analysts.
Analysis shows that as the epidemic continues in many regions of the world, China's exports have benefited greatly from strong demand for medical devices and medicines, with medical device exports increasing by 71% year-on-year and pharmaceutical product exports increasing by 78%.
ASEAN countries have surpassed the EU and the United States to become China's largest trading partners.
In terms of trade surplus, China's overall trade surplus in March was US$13.8 billion, the lowest level since the outbreak began more than a year ago. The trade surplus with the United States was US$21.4 billion, also the lowest since the beginning of 2020.
China's chip imports climbed to nearly $380 billion in 2020
China's chip imports climbed to nearly $380 billion in 2020, accounting for about 18% of the country's total imports, as the US ban prompted companies such as Huawei to stock up on chips.
China purchased nearly $32 billion worth of equipment from Japan, South Korea and others for chip production in 2020, up 20% from 2019, according to a Bloomberg analysis of official trade data.
"In the short term, China will rely on imports to improve its chip manufacturing capabilities," said Wang Dan, a technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics. "China does not yet have the ability to produce the chip manufacturing equipment needed for advanced processes. But China is investing heavily, and success will require more than a decade of hard work."
Chinese chip manufacturing companies, such as SMIC, have purchased more equipment needed to manufacture silicon wafers and chips. According to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) last December, China has become the largest market for semiconductor equipment in 2020.
Due to the ban restrictions imposed by the United States, Chinese companies stockpiled chips in advance, and China's chip imports surged by about 14% in 2020. In addition, due to the new crown pandemic, people were forced to work and study at home, and the strong demand for PCs also stimulated China's chip imports and exports of smartphones and PCs.
According to statistics, the seven major sources of China's chip imports of over US$300 billion include Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Among them, Taiwanese companies including TSMC benefited the most.
In 2021, the demand for chips will continue to grow. The International Semiconductor Industry Association predicted in December that global chip sales will increase by 8.4% this year, and companies such as TSMC, Intel, and Samsung Electronics will continue to benefit. Chinese chip manufacturing companies will also continue to purchase semiconductor equipment to produce more chips, which will help companies such as Tokyo Electron and ASML to grow sales.
The government has paid enough attention to the reliance on foreign technology, and has made technological self-sufficiency a national strategic goal.
In order to solve the problem of talent shortage, integrated circuits have been upgraded to a first-level discipline this year. Recently, 90 domestic units jointly applied to establish a national integrated circuit standardization technical committee to propose standards that keep pace with the times for the development of China's integrated circuit industry.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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