SMIC agreed to build a production line with monthly capacity of 100,000 12-inch wafers in the Lingang Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the Pudong district of China’s business hub.
In China, SMIC has a 200mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) and an effectively controlled joint-venture 300mm fab for advanced nodes in Shanghai; a 300mm fab and a majority-owned 300mm fab in Beijing; 200mm fabs in Tianjin and Shenzhen.
The plan will focus on integrated circuit foundry and technology services on process nodes for 28-nanometers and above, backed by a joint venture majority-owned by SMIC.
The joint venture partner is the Lingang FTZ, and the company said it would seek other investors in the firm with registered capital of $5.5 billion.
Other companies with plants in the zone are Contemporary Amperex Technology and Tesla.
SMIC is partly backed by China’s state-affiliated chip fund.
SMIC is on a U.S. government blacklist that denies it advanced manufacturing equipment from U.S.-based technology suppliers. The United States cited national security concerns and SMIC has denied having ties to China’s military.
The measures disrupted the company’s plans to move into high-end chip making, but its financial performance has been strong as the chip shortage has boosted demand, Reuters reported.