Semiconductor companies in Guangzhou’s Nansha district are betting on regional synergies in the Greater Bay Area to meet the increasing industrial demand for next-generation chip materials, company executives said at the China Conference hosted by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.
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Nansha, located in the south of Guangdong’s provincial capital, is capitalising on local industrial policies and its proximity to major economic centres to build a world-class semiconductor cluster, with a focus on silicon carbide (SiC) – a critical material for next-generation semiconductors.
One major player in the regional hub is AscenPower Semiconductors, the largest SiC chip manufacturing project in China, which focuses on chips for the car industry.
The company counts a number of Chinese carmakers as clients, including Geely Auto and Chery. AscenPower chairman David Xiao said two features of the area augmented by local government policy have given the company an edge: a comprehensive industrial supply chain and solid foundation in research and development.
Xiao, who also leads lighting devices supplier APT Electronics, Nansha’s first semiconductor company, noted the benefits of the bay area concept, as he can attend conferences in Guangzhou and Hong Kong on the same day.
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“When I started a business with my mentor from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology two decades ago, I didn’t expect there would be the concept of GBA,” Xiao said at the annual conference, which was held in Nansha for the first time this year. APT Electronics together with three other semiconductor start-ups that Xiao’s team founded have now grown to around 4,000 people with an economic output of 4 billion yuan (US$545.5 million) in 2024, according to the executive.