Korean Media: China’s Self-Reliance Capacity Significantly Improved, Semiconductor Profits Surge 18.5-Fold!
On October 5, South Korean media outlet Edaily published an article stating that China’s growing indigenous capabilities in semiconductor development have led to a notable increase in industrial profits. This trend appears driven by surging demand fueled by the artificial intelligence boom, alongside sustained domestic investment in research and development aimed at countering U.S. restrictions.
In the first seven months of this year, total profits for industrial enterprises with annual revenue exceeding RMB 20 million reached RMB 4.5821 trillion, up 17.6% year-on-year. Among them, profits in the electronics sector rose by 110%, contributing 9.3 percentage points to overall industrial profit growth—accounting for roughly one-tenth of the national total.
More than 80% of the electronics sector’s profit growth stemmed from semiconductors, whose profits increased 18.5 times year-on-year. Among these, computer chips recorded the highest growth, alongside significant profit gains in computer manufacturing, peripheral device production, and industrial control computer and system manufacturing.
The primary driver behind the semiconductor sector’s profitability surge is the escalating demand associated with artificial intelligence. Computing chips and high-bandwidth memory are core hardware components for AI computation, as large-scale AI models require substantial processing power and memory bandwidth for both training and inference.
Experts note that the rapid advancement of AI over the past two years has significantly expanded demand across upstream and downstream industries. Progress in large-scale AI models and robotics has spurred investment in semiconductors, data centers, and memory technologies, while rising industrial output has translated into higher revenues and profits for related firms.
As the AI industry expands and user numbers, along with software and hardware deployment volumes, continue to grow, demand is expected to shift beyond model training toward inference and real-world applications. This suggests sustained upward pressure on semiconductor demand.
Amid this industrial momentum, Chinese companies are increasing their investments in semiconductors. Global investment bank Goldman Sachs forecasts that China’s semiconductor capital expenditure will maintain double-digit annual growth through 2030, reaching USD 82 billion—up 79% from last year’s projection.
With rising semiconductor investment, China’s reliance on overseas resources is expected to decline. According to Goldman Sachs data, China’s semiconductor self-sufficiency rate was just 38% in January 2010, but had risen to approximately 70% by June this year.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878192905295884/
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