Tsinghua Unigroup gets $21.8 billion to kickstart Chinese chip industry

EE Times reports the Chinese state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup secured an additional 150 billion yuan (about $21.8 billion) in funding from the government-owned China Development Bank and the Integrated Circuit Investment Fund, another state-backed entity.

Tsinghua Unigroup is China's largest semiconductor firm, the company will use the money for upgrades to existing ventures and to boost its core competitiveness. Among other things, Tsinghua Unigroup plans to build two massive memory chip fabs in China, with an estimated price tag of $54 billion.

The Chinese government announced last year its intention to invest some $161 billion over the next 10 years to bolster its domestic semiconductor industry.

Tsinghua said the financing would help improve its global competitiveness and the rise of the IC industry in China.