China Plans to Introduce Policies Encouraging Nationwide Use of RISC-V

On March 4, news emerged that China plans to release its first guiding opinions to encourage the nationwide use of open-source RISC-V chips. This policy is jointly drafted by eight departments, including the Cyberspace Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Intellectual Property Administration, aiming to accelerate the reduction of dependence on Western technology.

The core of this policy document is to promote the widespread application of RISC-V chips to achieve chip autonomy and control. RISC-V is a completely open-source instruction set architecture, allowing anyone to use and modify its instruction set for free without paying patent fees. This openness lowers the entry barrier, attracting companies and research institutions worldwide to participate, fostering technological innovation and rapid development of the ecosystem.

At the same time, the RISC-V architecture, with its open-source, flexible, and low-power characteristics, has broad application prospects in fields such as AIoT (Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things) and edge computing. According to predictions by Semico Research, by 2030, the global RISC-V chip market size will reach $92 billion, with the Chinese market expected to reach $25 billion. Additionally, Omdia predicts that by 2030, the shipment of RISC-V architecture chips will reach 17 billion units, capturing a market share of 25%.

Moreover, China has long been constrained in the field of chip R&D, and the promotion of open-source RISC-V chips is seen as a crucial means to break through core technology bottlenecks.

Currently, China has made significant progress in the application of RISC-V. Companies such as China Mobile and China Telecom have launched RISC-V-based chip products, widely used in servers, supercomputers, embedded systems, and other fields. In high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and intelligent connected vehicles, China has also demonstrated strong potential.

In fact, in recent years, China has introduced a series of policies to support the development of RISC-V. In 2018, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology released the first domestic policy supporting RISC-V, designating companies engaged in RISC-V-related design and development as support targets and including RISC-V architecture chips in the integrated circuit funding policy list. In October of the same year, the China RISC-V Industry Alliance was established in Shanghai. The Chinese government has clearly stated in the 14th Five-Year Plan to accelerate the strategic goal of chip autonomous innovation, providing various policy support and financial investment for the chip industry.

In terms of enterprises, companies and institutions such as Huawei, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Alibaba are actively participating in the construction of the RISC-V ecosystem and promoting the commercialization of related technologies. For instance, Alibaba, GigaDevice, and Xinlai Technology have launched multiple RISC-V architecture-based chip products, covering various fields from embedded systems to high-performance computing. Alibaba’s Xuantie series processors (such as Xuantie E902, Xuantie 910, etc.) cover application scenarios from low power consumption to high performance.

Therefore, this new guiding policy not only reflects China’s strategic intention to reduce external dependence in the chip industry but also demonstrates the important position and development potential of the RISC-V architecture in China’s chip industry. Sources indicate that the policy guidance to promote the use of RISC-V chips may be released as early as this month, although the final date may change.

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