Challenges and opportunities for semiconductor equipment facing 15th Five-Year Plan

Abstract

During the “15th Five-Year Plan”, China’ s semiconductor equipment industry is facing the dual challenges of technological blockade and supply chain decoupling. It needs to shift from “catching up and replacing” to “path innovation” to break through its dependence on the international technology system. This study analyzes three core needs: supporting self-reliance (breaking through the bottleneck of advanced process equipment and parts), building an innovation ecosystem with Chinese characteristics (exploring new technology paths such as GAA and 3D integration), and promoting intelligent upgrading (integrating AI and digital technology). At the same time, it proposes to use the strategy of “re-globalization” to deal with counter-globalization, and reshape the global semiconductor industry chain through the synergy of the internal cycle and the international double cycle. At present, domestic equipment has made breakthroughs in mature processes, but the high-end field is still monopolized by the United States, Japan and Europe, and faces problems such as low-level repeated competition and “stuck necks” in the supply chain. It is recommended to avoid internal entanglements through systematic scientific and technological research and collaborative innovation between upstream and downstream, focus on asymmetric technological advantages, and realize the leap from autonomous and controllable to self-reliance and self-improvement.