China’s Chip Experts Say Alternative to ASML "Small, Fragmented and Weak"

China’s most senior semiconductor executives have issued a public call for a consolidated national effort to build a domestic alternative to Dutch lithography giant ASML, warning that the country’s chip equipment industry remains too “small, fragmented, and weak” to overcome US export restrictions on its own, Luke James reported for Tom’s Hardware.

It is widely expected that China's 15th Five-Year Plan will prioritize lithography breakthroughs and EDA tool development as national targets. (Photo: ASML)

In remarks co-authored by SMIC co-founder Wang Yangyuan alongside leaders of memory giant YMTC, chip equipment maker Naura, and EDA software developer Empyrean, three areas where US export controls have constrained China’s semiconductor ambitions were identified: electronic design automation software, silicon wafers, and manufacturing equipment—particularly extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which enables sub-7nm chip production that China currently cannot replicate.

As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the authors urged the industry to “abandon illusions and prepare for struggle,” arguing that fragmented public funding is dispersing resources across too many competing efforts without producing results.

China is currently drafting its 15th Five-Year Plan, which will be presented to the National People’s Congress within the next week and will cover the period from 2026 to 2030.

It is widely expected that the plan will prioritize lithography breakthroughs and EDA tool development as national targets.

Big Fund III, a state-backed vehicle with roughly $47.5 billion earmarked for semiconductors, has already redirected fresh capital toward lithography and EDA as substitutes for ASML and Synopsys tools, respectively.