Wei Shaojun: Semiconductors may be the last shortcoming of China's information industry

On November 9, the 18th China Semiconductor Packaging and Testing Technology and Market Annual Conference was held in Tianshui, Gansu. At the conference, Wei Shaojun, the leader of the overall group of the National Science and Technology Major Project (01) Special Expert Group, mentioned the issue of Sino-US relations when making a keynote report.

Regarding Sino-US relations, Wei Shaojun mentioned that, on the one hand, with the new US President Biden taking office, restarting the economy will be the primary issue he faces due to the impact of the new coronavirus. On the other hand, Sino-US conflict will not occur in the short term, because Biden also needs time to form his own trade policy toward China, so the status quo of Sino-US economic and trade will not change. However, we should be fully prepared, stick to our own views, keep moving forward, and don't pin our hopes on the US approach.

In addition, everyone is more concerned about the problems between China and the United States in the semiconductor industry, especially the issue of what stage China's semiconductor industry will be in in the future. Wei Shaojun believes that the US's goal is to keep China at the bottom of the value chain and create conditions for US industrial dumping. Therefore, we must become an indestructible cockroach and make full use of this time to find ways to grow ourselves.

"What we need now is time to develop, not time to quarrel," said Wei Shaojun.

He added that according to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, if the United States completely cuts off ties with China, U.S. semiconductor research and development and investment will probably drop by 30% to 60%, and the United States may not be able to develop leading technology.

Americans have a sense of crisis, and China must also prevent a decline due to isolation. "The U.S. suppression of China has made us feel painful and aggrieved, and has forced us to make domestic substitutions, but at the same time we must remain calm and rely on innovative technology to lead in the future," said Wei Shaojun.

He also mentioned that China still needs to cooperate with the United States in competition. Most domestic markets are already saturated, and Chinese companies must go global, so China must open up, otherwise even its own industries may not be able to develop.

Back to China's development, Wei Shaojun boldly predicted that semiconductors may be the last shortcoming of the information industry. If the shortcoming is made up, the competitiveness of China's information industry may explode on a large scale.