Stefan Mileschin

Soaked up government cash and folded

The failure of Chinese chipmakers to fulfil their promise, despite shedloads of government cash, is being pushed as a cautionary tale by the US press.

Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co once boasted on its website that it would raise a total of $20 billion to churn out 60,000 leading-edge chips a year.

However, Hongxin's unfinished plant in the port city of Wuhan now stands abandoned. Its founders have vanished, despite owing contractors and investors billions of yuan. The company is one of six multibillion-dollar chip projects to fail in the last two years.

The US press is tutting that while the industry is flush with government money, it lacks expertise and technology that only the glorious USA can provide.

Hongxin Semiconductor began as a joint venture between Wuhan's Dongxihu district government and a company called Beijing Guangliang Lantu Technology.

When it is looked at, though, Hongxin was more of a story of stupidity rather than a red mark against China.

One of the co-founders of Guangliang had only finished elementary school and was allegedly using false credentials and a different identity, Cao Shan. Another co-founder, Li Xueyen, dabbled in selling Chinese traditional medicine, alcohol and tobacco before starting Hongxin.

https://fudzilla.com/news/52623-chin...autionary-tale