Breaking news! Wuhan's 12-inch wafer factory with a 128 billion yuan investment was sealed off

The latest news: the land of Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Phase II factory has been seized!

According to the ruling of Wuhan Intermediate People's Court, the land use rights of Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hongxin") worth 75.3 million yuan were sealed by Wuhan Intermediate People's Court of Hubei Province. The sealed land is located east of the east flow of Jinghe Street and north of Taxi Road in Dongxihu District, Wuhan City. Hongxin won the right to use the state-owned construction land numbered Gong DXH (2018) 039 on November 15, 2018.

Article 4 of the judgment ruled:

Seize the land use rights of the respondent Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. located to the east of the east flow of Jinghe Street and to the north of Taxi Road in Dongxihu District, Wuhan City (No.: Gong DXH (2018) 039, area 22.330605 hectares). The fourth item of seizure of real estate listed above shall last for three years.

It is reported that the land is used for the construction of Hongxin Phase II factory, which started construction in September 2018 and has not yet been completed. However, according to regulations, after the court seals the land use rights according to law, no one may change the status quo of the land without authorization, and may not build buildings on the sealed land without permission. Hongxin Phase II project may be hindered by this seal.

According to industry insiders, Wuhan Hongxin's total investment exceeds 128 billion yuan, with 52 billion yuan invested in the first phase of the project. The second phase will invest 76 billion yuan to build a 12-inch wafer factory.

The seizure was caused by the general contractor's default on project payment.

At the beginning of 2018, the first phase of the Hongxin Semiconductor Project was officially started, with Wuhan Torch Construction Group Co., Ltd. as the general contractor. In May 2018, Wuhan Huanyu Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd. took over the civil engineering of the Wuhan Hongxin Phase I Project from Wuhan Torch. On July 4, 2019, the topping-out ceremony of the Hongxin Phase I Project was held. However, Torch Group owed Huanyu Company 41 million yuan in engineering fees for a year. Due to the arrears of engineering fees, Huanyu Company sued Torch Group and Hongxin in the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court, and applied to the court for pre-trial property preservation on September 4, 2019. On September 12, the court ruled to freeze three bank accounts of Torch Group with a total deposit amount of 35 million yuan, and ruled to seal up the land for Hongxin's Phase II project, and ruled to execute it immediately.

Former TSMC executive Chiang Shangyi serves as CEO of Wuhan Hongxin

According to information, Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was established on November 16, 2017 and is headquartered in Linkonggang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Wuhan, China. The company mainly operates advanced logic processes, mature mainstream processes, and RF special processes, and continues to develop world-leading process technologies.

At the end of June this year, 73-year-old Chiang Shangyi, the former co-chief operating officer of TSMC and long-time R&D manager of TSMC, took over as CEO of Wuhan Hongxin. Chiang Shangyi, who has worked at TSMC for more than 10 years, is one of the R&D generals most valued by founder Morris Chang, and a contributor to TSMC's position as the leader in wafer foundry. However, in 2016, he suddenly joined TSMC's rival SMIC as an independent director, which caused a great shock in the industry.

Source: Semiconductor Industry Circle