On Tuesday, World Bank president David Malpass told Reuters it is “probably good for everyone” that countries around the world are trying to diversify supply chains and reduce dependence on China.
Meanwhile the draconian lockdown in Shanghai, China’s financial centre, has fanned concerns over disruptions to cross-border supply chains.
Pegatron, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple, said on Tuesday it has paused production in two factories in Shanghai and the nearby manufacturing hub Kunshan to comply with government Covid-19 controls. Delivery delays in Shanghai are expected to last until the end of this month before there is any chance for improvement, research firm TrendForce said in a note published on the same day.
As China battles a spate of Omicron outbreaks, its bid to shore up its domestic semiconductor production capability continues, despite failures to secure the latest state-of-the-art equipment and technologies.
Last year, China remained the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing equipment market, with sales increasing by 58 per cent to US$29.6 billion, according to a report by trade group SEMI this week.
China’s top chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, has plans to spend about US$5 billion this year on capacity expansion and R&D, up from last year’s US$4.5 billion.
The value of Chinese IC exports increased 23.2 per cent in the first three months from the same quarter last year, while volume fell 4.6 per cent to 70.2 billion units.
