Miao Wei, the Party secretary and minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Photo: Courtesy of MIIT

China will gear up the development of the integrated circuit (IC) industry this year and help enterprises realize commercial success as well as technological achievements, an official said on Monday.

Experts noted that China's IC sector has been hindered by the China-US trade war, but, more importantly, the dispute also accelerated independent research and led to promising development prospects.

China remains the world's largest consumer market for IC products, with $277.86 billion worth of imports from January to November in 2019, Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday, citing official data. 

Driven by market demand in recent years, both domestic and foreign IC enterprises are optimistic about China, and they have invested in the construction of IC production lines in the country, Miao said.

However, the layout of IC manufacturing entities appears to be relatively dispersed, Miao noted.

MIIT, together with National Development and Reform Commission and other related departments will strive to preserve the investment enthusiasm of local governments in the IC sector, help the industry avoid repeated low-level investments and guide enterprises to switch their focus from investment to operation, Miao said.

Besides achieving technical success, it is also necessary for companies in the sector to realize commercial success, Miao said.

China's IC sector has grown, with a stronger determination to undertake its own research and development amid the trade war, Geng Bo, vice secretary-general of the China Solid State Lighting Alliance, a semiconductor industry association, told the Global Times on Monday.

Though the trade war has hindered the development of certain Chinese IC-related enterprises, including Huawei, it has also inspired Chinese companies' determination to speed up innovation and restructure their businesses to form a more sound industrial chain, Geng noted.

China received 8,319 intellectual patent applications in terms of IC layout design in 2019, up 87.7 percent year-on-year, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the National Intellectual Property Administration.

Exports of China's IC industry increased 25.3 percent year-on-year in 2019, showed data from the General Administration of Customs. 

Though challenges remain for China's IC sector, including technology lags in some sub-sectors, the domestic IC industry would see rosy growth this year, Geng forecast.

IC-related shares surged on Monday. Bright Power Semiconductor, a Shanghai-based IC design enterprise listed on China's science and technology innovation board, closed at 118.01 yuan ($17.2) on Monday, a gain of 20 percent.