“Series on Enterprises and Entrepreneurs” ExplanationSuccessful enterprises share common traits. By identifying common elements in the development paths of successful companies, one can clearly see the necessary conditions for success and reflect on personal gaps. Underdeveloped enterprises may have various issues, which can be illuminated through extensive field research. In summary, understanding more case studies of enterprises and reflecting on them is beneficial for business development; similarly, understanding more case studies of individuals and reflecting on them is also beneficial for personal development.This article is excerpted from the book “Chip Matters: Understanding the Chip Industry in One Book”. For copyright issues, please contact the backend operations personnel. The full text is 1800 words and takes about 10 minutes to read.While independently developing technology, China also attempted to introduce foreign technology. After U.S. President Nixon’s visit to China, in 1972, China imported technology from Europe and the United States, establishing over 40 integrated circuit factories, including the Gansu Tianshui Yonghong Equipment Factory (Factory 749), the Gansu Tianshui Tianguang Integrated Circuit Factory (Factory 871), the Guizhou Duyun Optical Electric Factory (Factory 4433), the Hunan Changsha Shaoguang Electric Factory (Factory 4435), and the Aerospace Factory 691. This year marked the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. In 1973, China’s integrated circuit inspection team visited Japan’s Hitachi, Toshiba, NEC, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, and Sharp for semiconductor design, production, manufacturing, and equipment.However, due to political and financial reasons, the plan to fully introduce the production line from NEC during the inspection could not be realized. After the reform and opening up, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory (Factory 742) in Wuxi, Jiangsu, fully introduced the integrated circuit production lines for black and white and color televisions from Toshiba, marking China’s first comprehensive production of overseas-introduced integrated circuit production lines.The production lines introduced by Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory included a 3-inch silicon wafer production line and packaging line, with a planned annual output of 26.48 million bipolar consumer linear circuits (used in televisions and audio equipment).In 1984, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory produced 30 million integrated circuits annually, becoming the most technologically advanced and largest integrated circuit enterprise in mainland China at that time.In the production of products from the introduced lines, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory experienced a divergence: some believed that products should be made entirely according to Japanese standards, while others believed production should be guided by domestic user requirements. Ultimately, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory decided to explore production guided by user standards, which was a very “market-aware” choice at that time.Looking back at history, it is evident that this awareness allowed Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory to stand out among factories nationwide, establishing the first modern integrated circuit factory in the country and enabling the microelectronics industry to begin achieving economies of scale.This decision by Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory also illustrates why the Jiangsu integrated circuit industry was able to transition in the 1980s from digital integrated circuits primarily supporting military, electronic computers, and instrumentation to specialized integrated circuits mainly supporting color televisions, tape recorders (audio), communication devices (radio communication and programmable telephones), and electromechanical instruments.By 1987, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory’s output accounted for nearly 40% of the national market for similar products.At this time, Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory responded to the Ministry of Electronics Industry’s call for “one company to introduce, many companies to benefit” by promoting integrated circuit production technology to other domestic enterprises, driving talent support, technical documentation, and management experience. That year, the Wuxi Microelectronics Engineering Research Center began construction, which was part of China’s microelectronics industry layout during the “Seventh Five-Year Plan”. During this layout, China recognized the significant gap with international advanced levels and thus initiated the construction of Wuxi Microelectronics Engineering, which was located at Jiangnan Radio Equipment Factory. In 1983, the Ministry of Electronics Industry decided to transfer 500 personnel from the Yongchuan Semiconductor Research Institute (later the 24th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation) to establish a branch in Wuxi, forming a microelectronics research and production consortium to tackle large-scale production technology for 2-3 micron processes. After the establishment of the research and production consortium, they successively developed and produced 64KB and 256KB dynamic random-access memory.Under the joint effort model, the Wuxi Microelectronics Joint Company was registered in 1985, and in 1989, based on this company, the China Huajing Electronics Group Company was established, while the research center was renamed the Huajing Company Central Research Institute. In February 1989, the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics held a seminar in Wuxi on the “Eighth Five-Year Plan” integrated circuit development strategy, proposing a development strategy of “accelerating base construction, forming large-scale production, focusing on the development of specialized circuits, strengthening research and support conditions, and revitalizing the integrated circuit industry”.Inspired by the industrial development experiences of neighboring countries, in August 1990, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics held a symposium in Beijing, and in 1992, the State Council decided to implement the “908 Project”. The “908 Project” concentrated investments of over 2 billion yuan, aiming to establish a chip production line in Huajing, Wuxi, with a monthly output of 12,000 wafers, 6 inches, and 0.8-1.2 microns.However, before the formal approval of the “908 Project” in 1990, the construction of the Huajing MOS production line had already begun. Due to various factors, the production of the “908 Project” was slow, and at this time, foreign competitors had achieved several generations of technological advancement along the path of Moore’s Law, leading to losses in the year of Huajing’s production launch. In January 1998, the main project of the “908 Project” passed external contract acceptance. In February 1998, Huajing leased some equipment to Hong Kong’s Shanghua Semiconductor Company, which introduced teams from the United States and Taiwan. During the transformation of Huajing, Chen Zhengyu, who had founded Maosi Electronics, sought help from Zhang Rujing, who had just retired from Texas Instruments. However, due to identity restrictions, Zhang Rujing was forcibly taken back by Taiwanese authorities in less than three months. Nevertheless, with the assistance of Zhang Rujing and others, Huajing completed the transformation task from February to August 1998 and achieved breakeven in May 1999. In 1999, Wuxi Huajing Shanghua Semiconductor Company was established, with Shanghua holding 51% and Huajing holding 49%, and in 2002, China Resources Group completed the acquisition of Huajing.