China's chip design industry grows 16.5% in 2022 despite US bans

The sales revenue of chip design industry in China is expected to hit 534.57 billion yuan ($78.74 billion) in 2022, up 16.5 percent year-on-year, showcasing the resilience of indigenous semiconductor sector amid the US government restrictions, according to data from the China Semiconductor Industry Association on Monday.

Wei Shaojun, president of the integrated circuit design branch of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, said though the growth rate of this year is 3.6 percentage points lower than that of last year, the mainland's chip design industry is expected to account for a bigger proportion of the global semiconductor sales in 2022.

Wei delivered the report at an industry conference in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Monday. The report showed there are 3,243 chip design companies in China this year, 433 more from last year.

Amid the US government export restrictions, "not only Chinese companies but foreign companies operating in China are attaching greater importance to security of supply chains, which has, in fact, fueled a wider use of domestically-designed chips," Wei said.

As China's chip industry faces more restrictions in the future, domestic chip industry's market presence will, in fact, be increasingly broadened, Wei added.

According to him, this year's growth is chiefly driven by China's vast market demand, and a global supply crunch of chips has also improved chip prices.

However, Wei warned that leading domestic chip designers are facing more challenges this year, with growth far lagging behind the industry average. He attributed this to multiple factors, including insufficient input into research and development.