China's integrated circuit exports have seen explosive growth in the first seven months of this year, already exceeding last year's full-year total with a massive 99.5% year-on-year increase. Memory chips have emerged as the primary growth driver, with manufacturer profits soaring more than 20-fold and chip packaging equipment orders already booked through 2028. Some buyers are even arriving at factories with cash in hand, eager to secure supply of this red-hot commodity.
At a memory chip production facility in Shenzhen's Longhua District, workers are busy packaging goods destined for Europe. The company ships approximately $5 million worth of products to Europe every week, and to cope with surging orders, the factory has expanded from 3,000 square meters to 8,000 square meters, with plans for four additional production lines and roughly 50 million yuan in new testing and manufacturing equipment investments.
As global demand for computing infrastructure skyrockets, memory chips have vaulted to become the largest export category in the semiconductor space. The financial impact has been dramatic, with one company reporting a 20-fold increase in net profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of the year. The export boom has also rippled through the logistics sector, with shipments to manufacturing hubs in Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries growing 20% to 30%, alongside a growing number of single orders valued at over $10 million.
According to customs data, China's integrated circuit exports from January to July reached $216 billion, a 99.5% increase year-on-year and already exceeding the $201.9 billion total for the full year of 2025. Industry analysts anticipate continued rapid growth through the remainder of the year as the global semiconductor sector maintains its strong momentum.
Where the demand is coming from
The high level of activity is cascading through the entire supply chain. A manufacturer of chip packaging equipment reports that customer orders are generally scheduled through 2028, with some clients even showing up at the company's doorstep with cash to secure equipment. Order volumes for memory chip packaging equipment have surged over 500%, while optical transmission chip packaging equipment has grown more than 300%. Despite doubling production capacity in May, the company still cannot keep up with demand and is planning a second expansion before year-end.
PCB (printed circuit board) demand is equally robust. As the critical connection carrier between chips and components, PCB exports reached $16.12 billion in the first half of the year, up 34% year-on-year, with markets in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia all growing more than 50%. One major PCB manufacturer reports its factories have been running at full capacity since last year, with new customer orders extremely difficult to accommodate. To boost efficiency, the company has introduced robotic operations and AI-assisted inspection.
Technological breakthroughs drive next-generation chips
Behind the export surge lies a significant leap in technological capability across the industry chain. Advanced chip stacking and packaging technologies now enable higher capacity and bandwidth while producing thinner, smaller chips. Dedicated packaging equipment for 1.6T optical modules has improved mounting yield rates from 95%-98% to 99.6%. Industry analysts note that China's integrated circuit industry has evolved over the past decade into a relatively complete industrial ecosystem, capable of meeting domestic demand while also absorbing some high-end overseas requirements.
From surging exports to supply chain bottlenecks, from capacity expansion to technological iteration, China's integrated circuit industry is just beginning to make waves in the global market.