Hubei Officially Launches 30 Bln RMB IC Investment Fund

On August 5, the Hubei provincial government officially launched a 30 billion RMB investment fund, operated out of the Wuhan (Hubei's provincial capital) Donghu Indigenous Innovation New Model Zone, according to a news report on the Sina Finance website.

The fund was officially established by the Wuhan Economic Development Investment (Group) Limited Liability Corporation, with investment support from the Hubei Province Technology Investment Group and several other unnamed companies.

According to unidentified "insiders" referenced in the article, the fund has already lined up 20 major projects or deals, and is exploring significant strategic collaboration with the National IC Fund Company and the China Development Bank Investment Corporation.

The article also highlights XMC Semiconductor as being the "major IC company" in Wuhan/Hubei, which made significant progress in the flash memory sphere through a 2014 deal with Spansion. XMC is expected to release its first 3D NAND product by 2017, and is reportedly making technological R&D inroads in the IoT sensor space and 3D integration platform research, according to the article.

News of a large IC investment fund in Hubei province was first released in November 2014, but the fund was not officially created until last week. According to the November 2014 announcement, Hubei is aiming to grow its industry from 3 billion RMB in 2014 to 40 billion RMB in 2016, and to 100 billion RMB in 2020.