Piotech plans hefty sales, eyeing IPO

Experts say the revitalization of China's northeast depends on innovative industry

Piotech Co Ltd, China's leading nano-scale semiconductor equipment manufacturer, expects this year's sales to double, reaching 90 million yuan ($13.57 million), according to a senior official from the company.

Chien Chiang, chairman and founder of Piotech, told China Daily that annual sales will continue high-speed growth this year and that the company plans to go public in three years.

Piotech, based in the industrial base of northeast China's Liaoning province, makes plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition equipment used to manufacture nano-scale semiconductors.

It was established by a group of returning international technology veterans, along with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, almost 10 years ago.

The company develops innovative advanced PECVD equipment to help global semiconductor manufacturers build integrated circuit devices. Its PECVD product has been qualified for production by two China-based foundries－Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation.

"Piotech's equipment is as good as its international counterparts even though it is a new player in the field. We are expecting to work closer with the company," said Zhang Xin, vice-president of SMIC, the largest and most advanced foundry in China.

Moreover, Chiang disclosed that the company will move to a new plant this October and expand annual production capacity up to 300 sets. Piotech will develop next-generation products in the new plant.

The construction of 150-million-yuan new factory is also somewhat iconic of the company's promising future and China's two trillion yuan semiconductor market.

In fact, due to Piotech's great potential, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co Ltd, together with two other companies, invested 270 million yuan in the company late last year.

Piotech is only one of the promising companies in the Shenyang High-tech Development Zone. A source from the local government shows that it houses 136 high-tech companies, including Siasun Robot & Automation Co, Neusoft Medical Systems Co Ltd and Liaoning Chengda Biopharmaceutical Co Ltd. Local authorities announced that the zone will focus on IC equipment, robotic and intelligent manufacturing and civil aviation.

"Our high-tech companies are the innovation engine of the city. They are not so big at present, but represent the trend of the future," said Lyu Fan from the development zone.

Shenyang is the traditional manufacturing base of China with the great advantage of abundant technical workers and an industrial culture. Its mechanical industry contributed almost half of industrial output last year.

"The key to revitalizing the old northeastern industrial base is taking full advantage of manufacturing industry, especially by cooperating with Germany to build a high-tech manufacturing base," said Zhang Zhanbin, a researcher at the Revitalizing Northeast China Academy.