Anhui YOFC Advanced Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (“YASC”) and HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd. (“HGLaer”) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on November 22. Liu Hongchao, Chief Scientist of YASC, and Ku Dongfeng, Senior Vice President of HGLaer, signed the agreement on behalf of the companies. Mr. Chen Zhongguo, President of YASC, were present at the signing ceremony.

YASC is focused on silicon carbide (SiC) wide bandgap semiconductor product research, development and manufacturing. It has the first-class production line equipment and supporting systems, and possesses the whole-process research, development and production capabilities from device design, epitaxial growth and wafer fabrication to assembly and test. The company has brought together a talented team that has worked in the semiconductor field for many years, and undertaken a host of major scientific research projects at the provincial level. As the technology innovation platform supporting national innovation and entrepreneurship demo centers in key fields, the major emerging industry engineering in Anhui Province, and the key research, development and innovation platform in Wuhu City, YASC joins forces with upstream and downstream enterprises to build wide bandgap semiconductor industry innovation and development clusters, and helps develop and grow relevant industries including power electronics, automotive electronics, charging station and 5G base station.

HGLaer is one of the largest laser equipment manufacturers in China, a core subsidiary of Huagong Technology Industry Co., Ltd. (“HGTech”), a world-renowned laser equipment and CNC plasma cutting equipment provider, and a national key high-tech enterprise with a nationally recognized enterprise technology center. It is a leading organization and undertaking entity of national standard development, and a participant in international standard development. With the National Key Laboratory of Laser Technology, the National Engineering Research Center of Laser Processing and the Laser Processing Exhibition Center, HGLaer undertakes national key projects and major scientific and technologic breakthrough projects.

Equipment is the cornerstone for industrial development, the companies say in the exchange. The Chinese semiconductor industry was largely a passive recipient of prices set by international monopolies in the past, and relied on core equipment imports; moreover, the equipment import cycle was lengthy, and the prices were high. As China-US trade frictions have extended to a tech war in the current geopolitical context over recent years, and the bottleneck problems in many parts of the industrial chain have been prominent, establishing a self-supporting industrial chain is of great significance. Thanks to the government’s strong support and promotion in industrial policy, taxation and talent training, domestic equipment research and development have accelerated, multiple parts have entered the industrialization and substitution stage, and local semiconductor equipment manufacturing has moved toward the large-scale and high-end direction. A number of excellent equipment manufacturers like HGLaer have continuously made breakthroughs, and sped up the process of substitution with domestic products, with the support of wafer manufacturers such as YASC.

Under the agreement signed, the companies intend to promote in-depth collaborations, and build closer strategic partnerships on the principles of strategic synergy and business empowerment to achieve win-win cooperation in the long term. Looking ahead, YASC will uphold the mission of “becoming a leading wide bandgap semiconductor company in the world”, and work together with upstream and downstream industrial chain partners to drive the thriving third-generation semiconductor industry forward.