China is doubling down on its plan to dominate advanced technologies of the future by setting up its largest-ever semiconductor state investment fund, according to information posted by a government-run agency. Worth $47.5 billion, the fund is being created as the US imposes sweeping restrictions on the export of American chips and chip technology in a bid to throttle Beijing’s ambitions.
In 2022, the country’s anti-graft watchdog launched a crackdown on the semiconductor industry, investigating some of China’s top figures in state-owned chip companies. Lu Jun, former chief executive of Sino IC Capital, which managed the “Big Fund,” was probed and indicted on bribery charges in March, according to a statement by the country’s top prosecutor. These scandals aren’t the only roadblocks that could severely undermined Xi’s ambitions to get China to achieve tech self-reliance.