NEC and Shanghai Hua Hong announced on February 24, 1999, that their Shanghai joint venture had completed its semiconductor plant and begun wafer production. The $1.2 billion facility was built around 8-inch wafers and a 0.35-micron process, and was a centerpiece of China’s 909 Project to develop a competitive domestic semiconductor industry.
What was the NEC–Hua Hong plant?
Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co. Ltd. (HHNEC) was a semiconductor-manufacturing joint venture established in July 1997 by Shanghai Hua Hong, NEC and NEC (China), according to Hua Hong’s corporate history. Its fab was built in Shanghai as a major investment in China’s domestic chipmaking capacity.
On February 24, 1999, NEC and Shanghai Hua Hong announced that construction was complete and wafer production had begun. That milestone describes the start of wafer production, not proof that the fab had already reached its planned full output. EE Times’ contemporaneous report put the investment at $1.2 billion.
What technology and capacity were announced?
The plant was designed to process 8-inch (200 mm) wafers using a 0.35-micron design rule. At its February 1999 opening, EE Times described 0.35 micron as the smallest feature size then produced in China; that was a statement about China’s manufacturing capability, not a claim that the fab led the world. The process was behind the global state of the art at the time, but brought larger-wafer, commercial semiconductor production to China at a significant scale. EE Times’ opening report
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The 1999 announcement gave initial capacity as approximately 5,000 wafers per month, with a planned expansion to 20,000 per month. These were launch-era figures and an expansion target, not audited evidence of later production levels. EE Times’ production-start report
What was the 909 Project’s role?
The fab was a centerpiece of China’s 909 Project, an effort under the Ninth Five-Year Plan, which covered 1996–2000, to establish a competitive domestic semiconductor industry. EE Times’ account of the 909 Project described it as one of the plan’s main goals. HHNEC therefore represented more than a foreign-linked factory investment: it was part of a national effort to build local chip-manufacturing capability.
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- Wafer Pattern May Vary from the Product Images. Great to be used as gift, display object, exhibition, educating demonstration, testing, decoration or your collection
- Beautiful microchip pattern structure made by the advanced copper technology
- 90~130nm minimum microchip feature Copper Characterization with TEOS or Black Diamond Low-k ILD on the single crystal silicon wafer
- The original value of un-polished wafer is above $500
- No guarantee for research and other applications
What was the factory intended to make?
Its initial products were 64-Mbit DRAM devices and logic ICs. The announcement described the logic chips as serving China’s custom market and the ASEAN and broader Asia-Pacific region, with world markets as a longer-term ambition. EE Times’ opening report
HHNEC pilot-ran DRAM in 1999, but the product mix did not remain fixed. Hua Hong’s corporate history says the company phased out DRAM in 2003 and began offering foundry services. Hua Hong’s corporate history
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- 5 x 5 inches, 0.67 ounces, 0.03 inches thick. Some wafers are marked with alignment marks.
- The pattern is produced by light diffraction, and its reflective appearance changes with the viewing angle.
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Key dates
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| July 1997 | HHNEC was established by Shanghai Hua Hong, NEC and NEC (China). Hua Hong’s corporate history |
| February 22, 1999 | EE Times reported the fab’s official opening and described its planned process and initial products. EE Times |
| February 24, 1999 | NEC and Shanghai Hua Hong announced construction completion and the start of wafer production. EE Times |
| 1999 | HHNEC pilot-ran its DRAM production line. Hua Hong’s corporate history |
| 2003 | HHNEC phased out DRAM and began foundry services. Hua Hong’s corporate history |
Why the start mattered
For China, the announcement marked the beginning of wafer production at a large, strategically significant domestic fab, combining 8-inch manufacturing with a process that was advanced by local standards in 1999. The investment’s importance lies in that industrial-policy and capability-building context—not in a claim that its technology was globally cutting edge. The plant’s later move away from DRAM toward foundry services also shows how its role evolved after the initial production plan.
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