Precision strike: China targets US, Japan stranglehold on photoresist supply

China’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency is shifting from broad aspiration to a precision strike on chokepoint materials, with photoresist – the light-sensitive chemical essential for etching microscopic circuits onto silicon wafers – emerging as a new battlefield.

The sector, which provides the key material for lithography, was expected to enter a critical stage of “accelerated breakthroughs and large-scale application” over the coming years, according to Fu Zhiwei, chairman of Xuzhou B&C Chemical, a major domestic supplier of photoresist.

Fu, also a deputy to the National People’s Congress, told the South China Morning Post during the “two sessions” annual political gathering last week that the company aimed to achieve mass production of several core photoresist materials used in advanced processes within five years.

The comments mark the latest effort by China to expand the scope of its chip self-sufficiency drive under the new 15th five-year plan, amid an intensified tech race with the US in advanced chipmaking.

Photoresist, used in processes such as photolithography and photoengraving to form patterned coatings on surfaces, is a key input in chip manufacturing.

The material is classified by exposure wavelengths, including broadband UV, G-line, I-line, KrF, ArF, EUV, and electron beam types. KrF, ArF, and EUV are the most advanced.

With increased efforts, the domestic field of photoresist was undergoing a transition from “single-point breakthroughs” to “systemic development”, Fu said.

South China Morning Post