Economy of China:

Chinese Chipmaking: China Achieves New Semiconductor Breakthrough, by Dmitry Migunov for IZVESTIA. 10.06.2024.

Apparently, Chinese companies will be able to produce modern photolithography machines.

The war of chip makers is just beginning. Last week, China announced the creation of photolithographic machines capable of producing chips using a very high technological process — above 8 nm. This is a leap over a decade and a half of progress in these technologies. Izvestia investigated why this is important and how it will change the global semiconductor market.

Main branch of industry

It is not so easy to find technology in the 21st century that does not use microchips. In fact, chips are a related field for almost all other industries. At the same time, it is a technically complex industry that requires unique competencies and equipment.

The number of countries that can do this in principle can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Taiwan, mainland China, South Korea, Japan, the USA , and that's about it (several other countries have local production facilities that are not the most significant on a global scale). Moreover, there is a large gap within this group: for example, the most advanced microchips at the moment are produced only by Taiwan, represented by the TSMC corporation.

But if the production of semiconductors as such is concentrated in a narrow circle of countries and companies, then the production of means of production for them is almost completely monopolized on a global scale. We are talking about photolithographic machines, which are necessary for applying a pattern to a board, a kind of "machines" for chips.

Formally, such machines are produced by several companies, but truly modern chips can only be made on equipment from the Dutch company ASML.

Once a small division of Philips, the company “came to success” by betting relentlessly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography, which it had been developing for decades. There were years of losses along the way, but in the 2010s the technology finally took off. From 7 nm onwards, manufacturers use EUV equipment almost exclusively (with the exception of China, which we will discuss later). By the end of the last decade, ASML had gained a dominant position in the global market.

Machine for the price of an airplane

The cost of photolithographic equipment and its maintenance accounts for about 40% of the cost of chip production. The cost of one ASML machine is close to the cost of an Airbus airliner, and in terms of its physical volume, one such “machine” exceeds a regular bus (and an order of magnitude in weight). In fact, it is a mini-factory. The monopoly position in the market allows ASML to set prices at its own discretion. It cannot be said that the Dutch company often uses this position, but the lack of competition in any case makes manufacturers nervous. Moreover, there are delays in deliveries, and most importantly, in recent years the issue of semiconductor production has become extremely politicized.

First of all, problems arose with China, which increased its share of this market year after year. If in the early 2010s, China's share in global production was slightly more than zero, now it has exceeded 20% . All this coincided with the aggravation of US-Chinese relations and the AI ​​race, for success in which a lot of semiconductors are needed.

The US administration imposed restrictions on the supply of chips to China, which affected not only US companies, but also market participants from other countries. However, Chinese companies continued to produce their own chips, and quite modern ones. For example, the Chinese company Yangtze Memory Technologies (YTMC) expanded the production of 3D NAND memory chips in 2023 (used, for example, in the production of SSDs - solid-state drives). Huawei, which was supposed to suffer first from the sanctions, sharply increased its own production last year. China managed to smoothly establish mass production of semiconductors using the 7 nm process technology (not the most modern, but sufficient for the vast majority of tasks) in sufficient quantities, which provided a respite for local electronics manufacturers.

The only way to somehow influence China's position in the industry was to restrict the supply of photolithographic equipment. In fact, ASML refused to supply EUV to China quite a long time ago. It was believed that without these machines it would be impossible to produce 7-nanometer chips. However, the Chinese have proven that previous-generation equipment is sufficient for this process technology - machines operating using deep ultraviolet (DUV) technology. This is somewhat less efficient than using EUV, but, given the enormous demand in the market and generous subsidies for manufacturers, it is more than profitable. Theoretically, these machines can also be used for higher process technologies (5 nm).

Two years for 15

Already this summer, the US once again put pressure on China's counterparties in Asia and Europe. The Dutch government announced that it was considering restricting DUV machine servicing in China. It should be noted that even before the sanctions were imposed, the Chinese were buying up this equipment in reserve, so technically there is more than enough of it. However, without servicing, serious problems may arise. For ASML, this is quite a headache: the company accounts for more than half of its sales in China. In addition, the Chinese have quite serious levers for applying retaliatory sanctions. As a result, a decision has not yet been made.

Be that as it may, China's dependence on foreign equipment made its position vulnerable. In China itself, only one company produces such machines - Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE). Until recently, however, its capacity was limited to producing primitive machines using the 90 nm process technology, which was considered modern in 2003. Such equipment is quite sufficient for producing chips used in military equipment. Accordingly, the US argument that measures are being taken to limit the capabilities of the Chinese army and navy looked completely unconvincing.

The restrictions have spurred the Chinese to import substitution and the creation of national alternatives, and ideally, a full cycle of chip production, starting with equipment. Photolithographic machines are incredibly complex to build, they require exceptionally high competencies, and it is impossible to work here on the principle of “this was needed yesterday” for any amount of money. Nevertheless, in mid-September it became known that an unspecified company (presumably SMEE) was able to produce two machines that can service 28 and 8 nm processes, respectively.

This is still worse than ASML, but for the Chinese, the progress is huge. It can be said that they have overcome about 15 years of development of the semiconductor industry in the shortest possible time. For the first time in the world, chips on 7 nm process technologies began to be produced no later than 2017.

This is already more than enough to produce microcircuits not only for the military, but also for most civilian industries. In fact, the only thing beyond China's capabilities is the production of some of the most advanced computer equipment, in particular, modern processors.

The reverse effect of sanctions

To be fair, it is not known exactly what state the production of these machines is in, whether we are talking about serial production or only about prototypes. In any case, if the equipment is working, then introducing it into production will not be so difficult, given that Beijing will take any steps to ensure the most complete independence from foreign suppliers in the current conditions. The fact that before reaching the required speed, when the economy of scale kicks in, it will be necessary to work at a loss for some time, is unlikely to bother anyone in China.

A year ago, it was reported that SMEE had also registered patents for EUV technology equipment. The situation is not yet completely clear: are we talking about machines that will soon be built and put into production or are we talking about theoretical research. In the first case, it will be possible to state that China has finally caught up with ASML, and its needs for foreign contractors will be much lower (but will not fall to zero: to produce chips, any player needs many parts from different countries. At the moment, this is a truly global industry).

If China can ensure the production of new equipment, then it will be possible to state that the American sanctions not only failed, but had the opposite effect. Now the PRC, fearing new and new restrictions, is trying to localize semiconductor production as much as possible, which was not observed a few years ago.

China's expected successes clearly demonstrate that, although the production of photolithographic machines is extremely complex, the task of raising the relevant industry is quite realistic under certain conditions. This could radically change the balance of power in the industry worldwide and virtually nullify any effect of sanctions. For third-party consumers, it is important that competition will arise in this industry, which can significantly refresh the sector and even lead to a decrease in prices, which are currently growing by leaps and bounds. For Russia, this should also simplify the purchase of chips for military, but primarily civilian needs.

https://iz.ru/1764390/dmitrii-migunov/kitaiskoe-cipirovanie-knr-dobilas-novogo-proryva-v-poluprovodnikah[/b]

Kiko wrote:The war of chip makers is just beginning. Last week, China announced the creation of photolithographic machines capable of producing chips using a very high technological process — above 8 nm. This is a leap over a decade and a half of progress in these technologies. Izvestia investigated why this is important and how it will change the global semiconductor market.

This is a misinterpretation of the Chinese government communique.
The machine has 8 nm of overlay precision. This does not mean it can do 8 nm resolution level chips.

The best machine in that document can do 65 nm. Which is still an improvement over the previous Chinese lithography machines which could only do 90 nm.

War declared on China at the highest level, by Victoria Nikiforova for RiaNovosti. 10.07.2024.

Let's be honest: modern leaders have no time for curtseys and no one has declared war on anyone for a long time - they just start bombing, and that's it. Look at Israel, which is ironing out Beirut with bombs, and continues to wipe the Gaza Strip off the ground - tens of thousands have been killed in a year, but all of this, it turns out, is counter-terrorist operations, nothing more.

So when does war begin? I think it is when the true masters of the West speak out on the subject - not the ridiculous political puppets they have appointed, but people, as they say, with a capital letter.

Already 20 years ago, the French historian Emmanuel Todd recorded the transformation of the United States from democracy to oligarchy. Now the process has gone so far that the oligarchs are already brazenly nominating their protégés for president of the United States and can bet on them like racehorses. Rich people have come out of the shadows, they are quite openly declaring their interests, and very soon after their speeches, bombs begin to fall from the sky - in terms of consolidating what has been done.

And so Larry Fink spoke on behalf of the American oligarchy the other day. At a forum in Berlin, he expressed outrage that European companies were in no hurry to sever all ties with China: "Ukraine is on our doorstep, and I am surprised that questions are not being asked, demands are not being made: you (China) support our enemy, and we are pouring billions of dollars into maintaining Ukraine's viability , and we have to pay for this. <...> China is Russia's main assistant , the fundamental assistant to its economy. We must at least talk about this."

It would seem, well, what's so special about this? A business forum, businessmen sharing ideas. Cautious wording, no sabre rattling, no calls to "bomb Beijing." However, in essence, this is a real declaration of war, and at the highest level.

Larry Fink's BlackRock controls assets across the planet worth more than ten trillion dollars - that's more than three times the GDP of France and about 20 times the GDP of Ukraine. Its shareholders include the richest families in the US and Europe : the Mellons, Rothschilds , DuPonts, and Rockefellers we all know . Their ancestors created the US Federal Reserve, and today BlackRock manages the Fed's programs to buy US corporate bonds. In short, these are the real masters of Biden, Obama, and most of those funny people who lead Western countries today.

Larry Fink spoke on their behalf. What does Larry want from China? Very simple: for Chinese companies to go bankrupt and stop competing with American ones. For production in the country to be destroyed and for production of everything to be sharply reduced. For China to stop being the world's factory and become exclusively a market where Americans will bring their goods.

You will say: this is impossible. China has long been the world's number one economy in terms of PPP, etc. However, just 30 years ago, exactly these processes took place in the post-Soviet space after the collapse of the USSR . Industrial production fell by half compared to Soviet times, factories went bankrupt, the population became impoverished. The elites became addicted to Western loans, and the people to imports - from "Bush legs" to "amaretto". This is exactly what the American oligarchy is trying to achieve from China.

At the same time, European competitors will be ruined and sent into the world. For them, breaking ties with China is pure economic suicide. European businessmen listened to Larry Fink's speech with quiet horror. However, it is useless for them to turn to their governments for help: the French consider Macron a protégé of BlackRock, believing that it was in the interests of the American super-rich that he carried out his predatory pension reform and castrated the French Labour Code.

Interestingly, BlackRock also has assets in China itself, and now Fink is threatening to "revalue" them, that is, devalue them, ensuring a fall in the shares of Chinese companies. Another tool for influencing the Celestial Empire is sanctions, duties and prohibitive tariffs.

However, it is difficult to win an economic war against Beijing . The gigantic size of the Chinese economy, its global connections, the huge dependence of Western countries on Chinese imports in the most important areas, and Russia's uninterrupted assistance with energy resources are all obstacles - here we have developed a very strong and mutually beneficial tandem.

It is very difficult with the Chinese themselves: local consumers are genuinely irritated when Western brands try to dictate something to them or "punish" them, and they organize a formal boycott of these brands - this happened, for example, when Western retailers refused to buy cotton produced in Xinjiang, under the pretext of "oppression of Uyghurs". Chinese buyers immediately punished them with yuan, stopping buying their goods.

Everyone has seen how Western sanctions work, in principle - the ones who suffer the most from them are the organizers themselves, Russia has demonstrated this brilliantly. But since it will not be possible to crush China with sanctions, the only way to solve the problem is by military means. A small war around Taiwan is exactly what Larry Fink needs. This is how his foundation gets rich.

Last year, BlackRock entered into an "investment agreement" with Zelensky, effectively appropriating Ukraine's most lucrative assets - from railways to power grids, from factories to agricultural enterprises. American agro-giants have also gotten busy: today they own almost half of Ukraine's black soil. Howard Buffett, the son of the legendary multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett , is traveling around Ukraine, doing "charity" there. In short, the Americans have ripped Ukraine apart and are now stuffing it into their pockets.

Fink now dreams of drawing Taiwan into military action against China, imposing loans on the island, and then privatizing everything there for the debts – exactly as Ukraine did. Then BlackRock will effectively monopolize the world production of computer chips. And the main prize could be turbulence in China and the ruin of a competitor, as Russia did in the 1990s.

America cannot win a war against China - the Americans themselves openly admit this. But the goal of a modern war is not victory. Its goal is to exhaust the enemy with provocations, sanctions, limited military actions and to drive its population to rebellion and revolution. Then a coup will follow and - hello, an American puppet at the head of the country. They tried to act according to this scenario against Russia. It didn’t work - well, okay, “we didn’t really want it”, now they will use the same scheme to rock China.

The American economy feeds on war. The Federal Reserve System cannot survive without mass deaths, and the dollar will collapse without constant bloodshed. That is why Larry Fink's polite threats are worth taking seriously. They clearly convey the roar of explosions, the whistle of rockets, and the cries of the wounded. This is what a declaration of war looks like today.

https://ria.ru/20241007/kitay-1976633600.html

That guy Larry just has the perfect name really, it is a shame more CEOs of big powerful companies were not as honestly named... there would be finks and cunts and arseholes...

Sounds like the new Ukraine is going to have to start nationalising its assets to reclaim them from thieves...

With its new developments, China "leads the race" for ultra-fast charging of electric cars, 10.11.2024.

While the current charging time of electric vehicles ranges from 20 minutes to many hours, China is introducing new batteries capable of ultra-fast charging, which reaches 80% in less than 10 minutes, writes the 'Oilprice' portal. This advance by Chinese manufacturers gives them an advantage over other competitors, it adds.

While the world's leading battery manufacturers are working on improving them to speed up charging times and make electric vehicles (EVs) more attractive, China is at the forefront of this process, the outlet reports.

According to the portal, Chinese manufacturers "win the race for ultra-fast charging" because their lithium-ferrophosphate (LFP) batteries are not as prone to overheating as the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) used in those of their South Korean rivals.

For example, the Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world's largest battery manufacturer and supplier to Tesla and BMW, presented the world's first LFP battery that provides a range of more than 1,000 kilometers with ultra-fast 4C charging. The battery, named Shenxing PLUS, provides a range of 600 kilometers in just 10 minutes of charging, "far surpassing conventional batteries available on the market and offering a true ultra-fast charging speed of one kilometer per second," reports CATL.

Another Chinese battery manufacturer, Gotion High-tech, unveiled the G-Current battery, which offers an 80% recharge in 9.8 minutes and a 90% power replenishment in 15 minutes of charging process. In the words of company representatives, "this solution can be applied to the entire range of batteries — in EVs or hybrid vehicles - covering the LFP, LMFP [lithium manganese iron phosphate] and NCM chemical systems."

But it is not only the high recharge speed that distinguishes these Chinese products, the portal continues, and cites an opinion from the Wood Mackenzie consultant, Yingchi Yang, according to which LFPs are also gaining popularity "for their low cost and thermal stability". Thus, unlike nickel-based cathodes, LFP cathodes do not contain expensive metals such as cobalt and nickel, which makes them an attractive option for producers looking to reduce costs, the expert explained.

Referring to the American market for electric vehicles, the portal notes that consumers in that country are largely guided by battery life and recharging costs when deciding on the purchase of such a car. In this context, the fact that China "focuses on LFPs" would give it a clear advantage over South Korean competitors such as LG, Samsung, as well as SK Innovation, and would allow it to "take the lead" in the electric vehicle battery market, the outlet concludes.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://noticiaslatam.lat/20241011/con-sus-nuevos-desarrollos-china-encabeza-la-carrera-por-recarga-ultrarrapida-de-autos-electricos-1158172726.html

'It will not be able to survive': Italian unions warn of bleak future for car industry, 10.19.2024.

The Italian car industry will face an existential threat if the manufacturers led by Stellantis do not reverse the decline in the country's production, writes the media 'Bloomberg'. The problem is due to the fall in demand for cars caused by competition from Chinese analogues and high energy costs, he clarifies.

"Our car industry will not be able to survive if production volumes remain so low. Many car suppliers in Italy are small and are also under threat," commented the head of the Anfia group (the Italian automotive supply chain association) and CEO of the brake system supplier Brembo, Roberto Vavassori.

The Stellantis group, which owns the Fiat, Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands, is Italy's largest automaker by a wide margin.

In the first nine months of 2024, Stellantis' car production in Italy fell by 41%, due to increased competition with Chinese manufacturers, high electricity prices and a drop in demand for electric vehicles, according to the outlet.

These factors are also the reason that plants such as Mirafiori, where the Fiat 500 electric car is manufactured, have been closed for several weeks and have forced thousands of workers to demonstrate on October 18 for fear of possible job cuts, the portal highlights.

In turn, Maurizio Landini, head of the CGIL union — one of the organizers of the demonstration — indicated that in order to save the situation, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni should convene a meeting with the CEO of Stellantis Carlos Tavares, the auto parts manufacturers and the unions in order to draw up an emergency investment plan that will help the industry.

"We can't wait any longer (...) the entire European industry is in danger," he assured.

At the same time, the media recalls that Tavares "has already repeatedly clashed" with the prime minister's government, due to her desire to "manufacture in countries with lower production costs."

Next, the union estimates that car production in Italy will fall to less than 500,000 units in 2024, from about 750,000 in 2023.

"Time is up (...) The automotive industry is dying, we risk an unprecedented social tragedy," lamented the head of the Italian Metalworkers Union (UILM), Rocco Palombella.

But Italian workers are not the only ones facing cuts: their counterparts in France and the United States also consider themselves at risk and stand in solidarity with their colleagues in Italy, the portal emphasizes. In the words of one of the protesters — Brandon Campbell, from the United Auto Workers — he is forced to move to Rome, while "Stellantis is closing factories everywhere."

As CNBC reports, in the US Stellantis plans to close and sell its large vehicle testing grounds in the state of Arizona by the end of 2024.

In addition, the company has reduced the number of employees in North America by 14.5% between December 2019 and the end of 2023. At the global level, layoffs reached 15.5%, or approximately 47,500 employees, and that's not counting the job terminations expected for 2024, he summarizes.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://noticiaslatam.lat/20241019/no-podra-sobrevivir-sindicatos-de-italia-alertan-de-sombrio-futuro-para-industria-automovilistica-1158368145.html