Changjiang Daily (Reporter Li Qin, Correspondent Zou Yingchao) August 25 marked the 5th anniversary of Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co., Ltd. A few days earlier, in a ward at Tongji Hospital, Optics Valley, Wang Yiqun, General Manager of the Company, who had just wrapped up a conference call, gave an interview to Changjiang Daily while receiving an intravenous drip, reviewing the Company’s recently completed Series A financing of nearly RMB 5 billion. 

A strong sense of urgency and execution represent the two defining traits of the enterprise. Hubei Yangtze Laboratory was inaugurated in February 2021, and Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co., Ltd was founded six months later. The laboratory undertakes key scientific research, while the company commercializes research outcomes, with profits reinvested into R&D. This "laboratory + enterprise" incubation model is the first of its kind in Hubei and a rare case nationwide.

Over five years, the spin-off from the laboratory has emerged as a dark horse. It has set a new domestic financing record in the advanced packaging sector and mapped out a development blueprint targeting a monthly output of 100,000 wafers and RMB 10 billion in revenue. Leveraging advanced packaging technology as its cornerstone, the firm is blazing a new path for the Chinese chip industry to achieve leapfrog development via alternative technological routes.

Capital Rushes to Back the Firm

“The total financing stands at nearly RMB 5 billion, of which new shareholders contributed RMB 4.5 billion,” Wang Yiqun corrected widely circulated figures at the start of the interview.

According to the latest industrial and commercial registration information of Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co., Ltd, the investor roster features renowned institutions including Hillhouse Venture Capital, Sequoia China, Legend Capital, CICC Capital, China Merchants Bank Investment, and Shenzhen Venture Capital Group.

“Initially, we reached out to investment institutions proactively. As news spread, major capital parties came to us on their own,” said Wang Yiqun.

Two rationales underpin the enthusiasm of investors. The explicit driver lies in the track and market prospects. As chip manufacturing processes approach physical limits, advanced packaging has become critical to making breakthroughs in the post-Moore’s Law era. 3D advanced packaging, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co., Ltd core focus, is the sub-sector within this track boasting the highest technical barriers and greatest market potential.

The implicit driver is its team and proprietary technology. Yang Daohong, Chairman of the Company, currently serves as Director of Hubei Yangtze Laboratory. He previously held core senior management positions at multiple large semiconductor enterprises and excels in strategic management. Wang Yiqun, General Manager, holds a doctorate in integrated circuits from Tsinghua University. He witnessed the ground-up development of the National Memory Base and oversees business operations and technology deployment. Most core team members hail from leading semiconductor manufacturers. After five years of independent R&D, the team has mastered China’s cutting-edge technologies in the field.

“We are not a hastily assembled team. We have delivered successful outcomes together on major projects,” Wang Yiqun noted. This rapport enabled the team to commission its first production line within nine months and realize mass production of its first product in six months.

What impressed investors most was the team’s commitment. Prior to the Series A financing, team members invested more than RMB 600 million of their own funds, with most pledging their residential properties. “Everyone put in real capital.” This all-in commitment served as the most solid endorsement.

Advanced Packaging to Alleviate Computing Power Bottlenecks

What is advanced packaging? Wang Yiqun offered an analogy. Traditional chip manufacturing is like constructing buildings on flat land; as available land shrinks, construction becomes increasingly difficult. Advanced packaging, by contrast, is equivalent to building upward. Through vertical interconnection, small "modules" with different functions such as logic chips and memory chips are stacked closely together.

In May this year, Huawei unveiled the Tau (τ) Law, marking the first time a Chinese enterprise has put forward a new global industrial principle in the chip sector. Advanced packaging forms the fundamental manufacturing technology behind this principle.

Amid the boom of large AI models, this technology has become vital to breaking computing power bottlenecks. “Domestic computing capacity cannot rely excessively on overseas chips,” Wang Yiqun stated. With advanced packaging, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co., Ltd integrates memory chips, logic chips and other components to form a tighter interconnection architecture, boosting inference bandwidth by one to two orders of magnitude compared with conventional structures.

As Ren Zhengfei put it, “Compensate for physical limitations with mathematics, and complement Moore’s Law with non-Moore approaches.” Wang Yiqun believes that when standalone process improvement hits a wall, system integration can deliver overall performance gains. “Essentially, we leverage advanced packaging to bridge process gaps and achieve leapfrog development for domestic chips via alternative technological paths.”

More than a month ago, Shanghai-based Orient Computing Core launched DF1000, the world’s first AI chip adopting 3D near-memory computing technology. Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd completed mass production verification for the chip, overcoming long-standing bottlenecks in computing systems known as the memory wall, bandwidth wall and power consumption wall.

Wang Yiqun explained that global industry giants possess advanced manufacturing processes and thus face no urgent demand for stacking technologies. In contrast, strong domestic demand for AI computing power is pushing the industrial chain to explore alternative solutions. “We are at the global forefront in multi-stacking, high-throughput 3D interconnection technology.”

Emerging as a Key Hub of the Industrial Chain

On the day of the interview, core process equipment was being installed at Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd Phase II pilot production line, which is scheduled for full commissioning in September. Total investment in Phase I and Phase II has exceeded RMB 7 billion, with a planned monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers. The project has built China’s largest and technologically leading pilot and low-volume production platform for high-density integrated packaging. The Jiulonghu Industrialization Base, also located in Optics Valley, is under accelerated construction and expected to commence operation in the second half of next year.

From early lightweight exploration to heavy-asset deployment, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd has maintained a clear positioning: specialized advanced packaging services. Wang Yiqun said its identity as an independent third-party provider makes it a critical hub for the industrial chain.

This positioning is driving upstream and downstream enterprises to cluster in Optics Valley. During a visit to Hubei Yangtze Laboratory Science and Technology Park where Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd is located, the reporter saw a dense list of dozens of enterprises including Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China and Wushi Microelectronics posted near the elevator lobby on the first floor.

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China, which recently established its Central China headquarters in Optics Valley, is one of Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd investors. “We launched equipment cooperation at the early stage of line construction. This year, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China set up a dedicated Advanced Packaging Division to jointly develop complete sets of core equipment with us,” Wang Yiqun remarked.

Around the same time, a Greater Bay Area enterprise specializing in 3D EDA (Electronic Design Automation) decided to settle in Optics Valley, attracted by Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd application scenarios. “3D design and simulation remains an uncharted territory globally. We need to grow alongside partners like this.”

“Once we identify a viable direction, we commit heavy investment and take deep root,” said Wang Yiqun. Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd will focus on streamlining the full packaging workflow to deliver one-stop solutions for clients. This focus has made it an irreplaceable central node within the industrial chain.

The Opportunity Window Lies in the Next Five Years

At present, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd is assisting leading domestic enterprises in refining 3D computing chips, with monthly shipments of several hundred wafers. “The new-type chips are still under verification, and our core task is to improve mass production yield,” Wang Yiqun acknowledged. The financing and production line construction aim to scale up investment, translating laboratory technology into large-volume mass production and turning it into an industry mainstream. “Only by scaling capacity can we attract in-depth cooperation with more industry leaders.”

In his view, the biggest challenge is to perform its hub function, connect upstream and downstream players, and build a standardized technology system covering logic, memory, equipment and EDA. “Mass production is a systematic project involving thousands of technical challenges. Breakthroughs can only be achieved through coordinated efforts across the industrial chain.”

In just over a month, the Company’s workforce expanded from more than 700 to nearly 1,000 employees, with R&D staff accounting for over 70% of the headcount. “The whole industry is competing for talent and racing against time,” Wang Yiqun said. The Company is building its talent pool through mentor-mentee programs and university-enterprise cooperation.

Wang Yiqun introduced that the Company targets annual revenue exceeding RMB 10 billion and a monthly capacity of 300,000 wafers by 2030. In terms of business, alongside compute-in-memory technology, the firm is developing photoelectric interconnection as its second growth curve. “After resolving computing power constraints, the next step is to break transmission bottlenecks. The shift from copper to optical interconnection is an irresistible trend.”

“The opportunity window lies in the next five years.” Shifting from multi-track R&D exploration in the laboratory to focused production of flagship products on mass production lines, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd is striving to accelerate the growth of Wuhan’s integrated circuit industry amid this time window.

Emerging as a Key Hub of the Industrial Chain

On the day of the interview, core process equipment was being installed at Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd Phase II pilot production line, which is scheduled for full commissioning in September. Total investment in Phase I and Phase II has exceeded RMB 7 billion, with a planned monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers. The project has built China’s largest and technologically leading pilot and low-volume production platform for high-density integrated packaging. The Jiulonghu Industrialization Base, also located in Optics Valley, is under accelerated construction and expected to commence operation in the second half of next year.

From early lightweight exploration to heavy-asset deployment, Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd has maintained a clear positioning: specialized advanced packaging services. Wang Yiqun said its identity as an independent third-party provider makes it a critical hub for the industrial chain.

This positioning is driving upstream and downstream enterprises to cluster in Optics Valley. During a visit to Hubei Yangtze Laboratory Science and Technology Park where Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd is located, the reporter saw a dense list of dozens of enterprises including Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China and Wushi Microelectronics posted near the elevator lobby on the first floor.

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China, which recently established its Central China headquarters in Optics Valley, is one of Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd investors. “We launched equipment cooperation at the early stage of line construction. This year, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China set up a dedicated Advanced Packaging Division to jointly develop complete sets of core equipment with us,” Wang Yiqun remarked.

Around the same time, a Greater Bay Area enterprise specializing in 3D EDA (Electronic Design Automation) decided to settle in Optics Valley, attracted by Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd application scenarios. “3D design and simulation remains an uncharted territory globally. We need to grow alongside partners like this.”

“Once we identify a viable direction, we commit heavy investment and take deep root,” said Wang Yiqun. Hubei Hsingchen Technology Co.,Ltd will focus on streamlining the full packaging workflow to deliver one-stop solutions for clients. This focus has made it an irreplaceable central node within the industrial chain.