Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit (JHICC) - Phase 1

Overview

The 12-inch (300mm) DRAM wafer fab of Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit (JHICC), in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian. JHICC was founded on 26 February 2016 as a state-owned joint venture of the Chinese national and Fujian provincial governments, with a stated investment of about US$5.6 billion, to become one of China's first indigenous DRAM makers. Its DRAM process technology was licensed from Taiwan's UMC (a 22-25nm-class specialty DRAM process, variously reported and later targeted for a sub-20nm shrink). The main plant was topped out in November 2017 and first-phase DRAM production began in 2018, but the fab halted around March 2019 after the US Commerce Department placed JHICC on its Entity List in October 2018 (over allegations, tied to a Micron trade-secret case, that JHICC and UMC misappropriated Micron DRAM technology) and UMC suspended R&D support. JHICC subsequently restarted limited, lower-grade DRAM production, widely reported as with Huawei's assistance. It reached a global settlement with Micron in December 2023 and a US federal court cleared it of economic-espionage charges in February 2024, though it remains on the US Entity List. As of 2024 it held a stable monthly capacity of about 40,000 300mm wafers (targeting 60,000 by 2026) on reported 2024 revenue of 1.434 billion yuan. Key facility details include: The facility is situated at Integrated Circuit Industrial Park, Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian, China. It focuses on DRAM on 300mm wafers. This site represents an estimated investment of $5.6B and a production capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. Production at this facility commenced in 2018.