On September 15, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan").
As the top-level document guiding the high-quality development of China's electronic information manufacturing industry over the next five years, the "Plan" lists Integrated Circuits (ICs), advanced materials, wide bandgap and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, and Advanced Packaging as key directions. It sets a series of goals, including achieving an operating revenue of over CNY 30 trillion for enterprises above designated size and reaching an R&D investment intensity of 3.5% by2030.
The "Plan" specifies that by 2030, China's electronic information manufacturing industry will achieve remarkable results in high-quality development and play a pivotal role in the global industrial landscape. The operating revenue of enterprises above designated size will exceed CNY 30 trillion, and the security level of the industrial chain will be significantly improved. A batch of leading-edge technologies and products will emerge in fields such as ICs, advanced computing, consumer electronics, basic electronics, and energy electronics.
Integrated Circuits: Full-Chain Research and Development, Dual-Track Advancement in Manufacturing and Packaging
In the section on "Strengthening Industrial Foundation Capabilities," the "Plan" ranks "promoting full-chain research and development of integrated circuits" as the top priority task, proposing to advance full-chain R&D for ICs.
Specifically, in terms of high-end chips, it focuses on developing high-performance processors, high-density memory, and high-reliability analog and mixed-signal chips. In the manufacturing sector, it aims to refine mature process nodes and enhance advanced process node capabilities.
Regarding Advanced Packaging, the "Plan" explicitly calls for "promoting the development and application of advanced packaging and testing technologies" and "advancing breakthroughs and applications in technologies such as 3D integration," positioning advanced packaging and 3D integration as key levers for upgrading the industry's capabilities.
In addition, the "Plan" requires steadily improving the supply capacity of key equipment, materials, and components, accelerating the development of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and Intellectual Property (IP) cores, and strengthening the autonomy and controllability of the industrial chain.
Advanced Materials: Packaging and Assembly Materials, and Electronic Functional Materials Become R&D Focus
Regarding the high-end development of electronic components and electronic materials, the "Plan" establishes "Box 1: High-End Leap of Electronic Components and Electronic Materials," making systematic deployments for the material system.
Specifically, in the direction of packaging and assembly materials, the plan clearly outlines the development of packaging substrates such as high-frequency and high-speed copper-clad laminate materials, low-profile copper foil, and high-performance communication RF substrates; tin solders such as high-reliability alloy solder paste; bonding materials such as high-performance die-attach film (DAF) and conductive adhesives; as well as high-performance electronic yarn/cloth and high-thermal-conductivity thermal interface materials.
In the direction of electronic functional materials, the focus is on developing semiconductor materials such as large-size wafers, low-cost and high-performance magnetic materials, high-reliability electronic ceramic materials, ultra-small-size piezoelectric crystal materials, and high-capacity, high-performance battery materials.
In the direction of process and auxiliary materials, the plan deploys wet chemicals for advanced processes, high-performance electronic resin metals and their oxide/nitride targets, ultra-pure micro-nano copper powder and pastes, high-purity graphite/quartz products, as well as electromagnetic shielding materials, sealing and insulating materials, etc.
To support the mass production of the aforementioned materials and devices, the "Plan" also specifically names large-size crystal growth, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and molecular beam epitaxy material preparation equipment, as well as packaging and assembly equipment such as mass transfer, nanometer-level optical coupling, sub-micron high-precision placement, low-temperature eutectic soldering, and micro-transfer printing in "Box 2: Enhancing the Independent Guarantee Level of Special Electronic Equipment and Measuring Instruments."
Fourth-Generation Semiconductors: Gallium Oxide and Diamond Explicitly Named; Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride Focus on Quality Improvement and Upgrading in Wide Bandgap
Notably, the "Plan" clearly stratifies semiconductor materials by bandgap width, with distinct positioning and echelon advancement.
At the third-generation semiconductor (wide bandgap) level, the "Plan" proposes "promoting the quality improvement and upgrading of the wide bandgap semiconductor industry"—Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) fall into this category. The plan refers to them collectively as "wide bandgap semiconductors" and requires quality improvement and upgrading, without naming specific materials one by one.
At the fourth-generation semiconductor (ultra-wide bandgap) level, the "Plan" explicitly names them: "promoting the industrialization of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors such as gallium oxide and diamond."
Gallium Oxide (Ga₂O₃) and Diamond, with their wider bandgaps, possess inherent advantages in high-voltage and high-frequency scenarios such as power and RF applications, and are directly listed by the "Plan" as targets for industrialization.
In other words, this round of planning focuses on "quality improvement and upgrading" for third-generation semiconductors and "industrialization" for fourth-generation semiconductors—the pattern of "strengthening" wide bandgap and "innovating" ultra-wide bandgap is now clear.
Photonics and Advanced Packaging: Accelerating Co-Packaged Optics and Heterogeneous Integration of Silicon Photonics
In the photonics industry section, the "Plan" establishes "Box 3: R&D of Key Photonics Technologies and Products," with multiple points directly coupled with advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration.
The plan proposes focusing on improving the low-cost mass production capabilities of 8-inch and above silicon-based photonics and heterogeneous integration of multi-material systems, and breaking through key technologies for multi-dimensional heterogeneous integration in 12-inch advanced process nodes. In the direction of optical chips and devices, it specifically names "Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) chips."
This means that advanced packaging is moving from traditional electrical interconnects to a new stage of "Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)," and the heterogeneous integration of silicon photonics and advanced process nodes will become the core battlefield for the next round of integration technology innovation.
Advanced Computing and New Memory: Concurrent Advancement in Processing-in-Memory, Optical Computing, and Neuromorphic Computing
In the direction of advanced computing, the "Plan" proposes accelerating the layout of new computing paradigms such as processing-in-memory, quantum computing, optical computing, neuromorphic computing, and space computing. In "Box 4," it clarifies the roadmap for new memory products: developing high-bandwidth flash memory, high-bandwidth memory, ferroelectric memory, resistive random-access memory (ReRAM), and magnetoelectric memory.
This echoes the upstream and downstream applications of third- and fourth-generation semiconductors in scenarios such as power, RF, and sensing—new materials support new architectures, and new memory expands new computing power.
Multiple Directions Form Linkages with the Semiconductor Industry
Besides the main line of ICs, the "Plan" also forms linkages with semiconductor materials and devices in multiple fields.
In the AI (Artificial Intelligence) hardware foundation section, the plan deploys GPGPUs, ASICs, SoCs (System on Chip), and software-hardware coupled inference chips, and tackles edge-side intelligent computing chips and high-end memory chips, developing new architectures such as near-memory computing and processing-in-memory.
In the consumer electronics section, the plan proposes developing "motherboard architecture design and high-density integration technologies for PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)" in the personal computer field, and "strengthening the application of technologies such as flexible displays and advanced packaging."
In sections such as energy electronics, automotive electronics, and medical electronics, power semiconductors, automotive-grade components, and dedicated chips for high-end diagnostic and therapeutic equipment all rely on the underlying support of wide bandgap and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor materials.
Overall, the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry" makes systematic deployments for China's semiconductor and advanced materials industries over the next five years. It covers full-chain R&D of ICs, advanced packaging and 3D integration, quality improvement and upgrading of wide bandgap semiconductors, industrialization of fourth-generation semiconductors such as gallium oxide and diamond, as well as supporting layouts for packaging and assembly materials, co-packaged optics, and new memory. The echelon pattern of "strengthening" wide bandgap and "innovating" ultra-wide bandgap anchors the direction for the next round of industrial competition.