A recent visit to Anxin Electronics' production facility in the Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone revealed a scene of quiet precision. Under soft, bright cleanroom lighting, silicon wafers moved steadily along the 6-inch production line. Technicians closely monitored fluctuating process parameters on screens, ensuring precise control over the entire manufacturing flow. Today, this local enterprise's self-developed and self-produced chips have passed automotive-grade certification and are being supplied in volume to downstream automakers.
"We are benefiting from the recovery in the downstream market and the expansion of our automotive-grade products. Our order volume has seen significant growth, and the entire team is racing to meet production schedules," said Wang Liang'en, Chairman and General Manager of Anxin Electronics. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Chizhou's regional GDP crossed four consecutive 10-billion-yuan thresholds. In the first quarter of this year, the value-added of industrial enterprises above a designated size grew by 10.6%, ranking third in the province.
Behind these figures lies over a decade of steadfast industrial planning by this small city in southern Anhui. Semiconductors have become its most prominent success story.
Located in the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, Chizhou lacks inherent advantages: no seaport, weak educational and scientific resources, and a relatively small economic scale. Yet, through over ten years of meticulous cultivation, this small city has steadily broken through in the semiconductor arena. It has gathered over 130 upstream and downstream related enterprises, with industrial scale exceeding 30 billion yuan, becoming the second-largest hub for chip packaging and testing in the province.
How did Chizhou shape this industrial chessboard? The answer lies in choosing a path of differentiated competition.
In 2012, Chizhou designated the electronic information industry as its primary industry, a time when the semiconductor sector had not yet taken shape in the city. Avoiding direct competition for top-tier resources with Hefei and Nanjing, Chizhou anchored itself to a differentiated development path. It proactively undertook industrial transfers from the Yangtze River Delta and delved deeply into specific segments of the industrial chain.
In 2013, Anxin Electronics became the first semiconductor enterprise to settle in Chizhou. Looking back at the start-up phase, the lack of supporting facilities, a shortage of talent, and a blank industrial chain were three major challenges facing the company.
"Six or seven years later, the high-speed railway opened, the airport was built, and the industrial chain support in the Yangtze River Delta became increasingly complete," Wang Liang'en candidly stated. Chizhou's strategy for breaking the deadlock was clear and precise: leverage strengths and avoid weaknesses. It sidestepped high-precision front-end manufacturing and focused on the packaging and testing field, aiming for depth, refinement, and specialization.
The market has validated the correctness of this differentiated layout. Inside the clean production workshop of Jingdu Semiconductor Technology (Anhui), technicians in cleanroom suits monitor various process parameters in real-time. Each month, 7,000 to 10,000 12-inch wafer-level packaging products complete packaging here, continuously supplying the Yangtze River Delta industrial chain. After the first phase reaches full capacity, annual production capacity could reach 240,000 units.
In May 2024, Jiangsu Jingdu Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., reportedly the first purely private display driver IC semiconductor packaging and testing company in China, signed an agreement with the Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industry Concentration Zone to invest and establish Jingdu Semiconductor Technology (Anhui) Co., Ltd.
"After years of cultivation and development, Chizhou has formed a complete semiconductor ecosystem with distinctive features in discrete devices and packaging and testing. Its convenient transportation and location were key factors in our final choice to settle here," explained Ling Changcai, Financial Director of Jingdu Semiconductor Technology (Anhui). The company's output value this year is expected to reach 150 million yuan.
By persistently adhering to its chosen niche, Chizhou has gradually nurtured a complete, internally circulating semiconductor industrial ecosystem.
Within the Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Huayu Electronics, Juxin Semiconductor, and Anxin Electronics form a closed-loop upstream and downstream supporting system. Key processes like electroplating no longer need to be outsourced to places like Jiangsu or Nanjing, significantly reducing logistics costs.
Anhui Mingte Electric adopts a "flying R&D + Chizhou production" model, leveraging R&D centers in Taizhou and Jiaxing for empowerment. Its orders from the Yangtze River Delta increased by over 80% in the first quarter.
As one of the earliest semiconductor industry cluster development bases in the province, Chizhou relies on government support to clear industrial bottlenecks. It actively makes connections, helping Anxin Electronics enter the supply chains of automakers like JAC and Chery. It specially constructed a semiconductor industry wastewater treatment plant and provided "environmental stewards" to guide enterprises in compliant production throughout the process.
"The government acts as a good intermediary, allowing enterprises to focus on development with peace of mind, which tangibly reduces our operational burden," Wang Liang'en stated.
Building on its latecomer advantages, Chizhou insists on project-driven and innovation-driven development. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the city has cumulatively introduced over 800 projects from Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, each valued at over 100 million yuan, with actual funds received exceeding 200 billion yuan.
Leveraging the provincial industrial synergy system, complete vehicle enterprises like Chery and JAC, as well as new energy leaders like Gotion High-Tech Co.,Ltd., have fully integrated Anxin Electronics' power semiconductor products.
Compared to imported counterparts, Anxin's products are 20% to 30% lower in cost. This cost advantage has become a crucial support for import substitution.
The dividends of the industry continue to be released. Chizhou's semiconductor industry output value climbed from 4.76 billion yuan in 2016 to 30.7 billion yuan last year.
The Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industry Concentration Zone is simultaneously laying out the commercial aerospace track. Aligning with Yanhuang Guoxin's expertise in aerospace chip R&D, Yanhuang Taixin has become an important vehicle for industrial cross-border extension.
Yanhuang Taixin is a subsidiary established in Chizhou by Beijing Yanhuang Guoxin, the latter being a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in high-reliability power management chips for extreme environments like aerospace. In 2025, Yanhuang Taixin completed a B+ round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan, with Chizhou Industrial Investment Group appearing among the investors.
Construction of the factory began last August, production line debugging was completed this April, and small-batch trial production started in May. The current line is producing photovoltaic diode chips to refine processes, accumulating experience for the packaging and testing of aerospace-grade radiation-hardened chips. The total project investment is 150 million yuan, with an annual capacity of 5 million chips.
"Chizhou for manufacturing, Beijing for R&D, and the Yangtze River Delta for application—this is our development layout," said Wang Huidong, General Manager of Yanhuang Taixin.
Wang Liang'en uses the通俗 concept "China for China" to interpret the current industrial fervor. Under the wave of import substitution, overseas chip manufacturers are losing their cost and delivery advantages,纷纷 establishing manufacturing capacity domestically. Leveraging local manufacturing strengths, several international giants are proactively seeking cooperation with Anxin. Undertaking industrial transfer is just the starting point. Chizhou's semiconductor industrial chain continues to climb towards higher value segments, covering diverse fields like automotive manufacturing, consumer electronics, commercial aerospace, and high-end equipment.
To connect with the Yangtze River Delta's innovation resources, Chizhou established a G60 Science and Innovation Corridor "innovation enclave" in Shanghai's Songjiang District. This precisely imports优质 industrial and innovation resources, with a number of science and innovation-oriented start-up projects subsequently landing and commencing production.
Anxin Electronics' 1.2-billion-yuan automotive-grade 6-inch wafer manufacturing project is steadily progressing. At full capacity, annual production could reach 600,000 units. The production line is currently in the trial production phase, achieving a breakthrough in lead-free manufacturing for domestic automotive-grade power chips.
Yanhuang Guoxin is accelerating its transformation towards an IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) full-industry-chain model. The Chizhou factory is the company's first self-owned production base. The company is building a "front store, back factory" pattern in the Yangtze River Delta: Hangzhou handles chip design, Huzhou provides supply chain support, and Chizhou is responsible for production and manufacturing. Aligning with Chizhou's development定位 as a commercial aerospace city, the company has already engaged with local commercial aerospace enterprises.
While high-end manufacturing relies on enterprise攻坚, the talent bottleneck requires collaborative破解 by government and enterprises. Constrained by the city's客观 development level, Chizhou still faces common industry challenges in attracting and retaining high-end talent. Enterprises use "high salary + equity" incentives to recruit core technical talent. Anxin Electronics'负责人 teach courses to assist in talent cultivation for the microelectronics major at Chizhou University and jointly定向 cultivate master's students with Anhui University of Engineering.
Amid rapid industrial growth,短板 cannot be ignored: a gap in high-end R&D talent persists, and no本地 vertically integrated leading enterprise has yet emerged locally. These growing pains are also an inevitable part of Chizhou's industrial upgrade path.
Addressing the talent痛点, Chizhou continues to optimize its cultivation system. It深入 implements the "Ten Thousand Horses Rush to Chi" talent plan. In 2025, the city introduced 26 high-level talent teams.仅 the Chizhou Economic and Technological Development Zone alone attracted 25 industrial领军人才, with high-level entrepreneurial talent eligible for policy rewards of up to 2 million yuan. The Pingtian Science & Innovation·Talent Port put 369 talent apartments into use, enabling人才 to move in with just their luggage.
The跨越 of four 10-billion-yuan thresholds marks a milestone in Chizhou's industrial iteration and serves as a全新的 starting point.
"We will continue to leverage Chizhou's strengths, deepen collaborative innovation within the Yangtze River Delta, undertake优质 science and innovation industrial elements, strengthen characteristic industries like semiconductors and commercial aerospace, promote the落地 of major industrial projects, deepen车芯协同 cooperation, and comprehensively enhance industrial core competitiveness," said Jiang Zhihua, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Chizhou Development and Reform Commission.
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