NEC and Shanghai Hua Hong announced on February 24, 1999, that their joint venture, Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co. Ltd. (HHNEC), had completed construction and begun wafer production in Shanghai. The $1.2 billion fab was a centerpiece of China’s 909 Project, an effort to build domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability.
What began production in February 1999?
HHNEC was established in July 1997 by Shanghai Hua Hong, NEC and NEC (China), according to Hua Hong’s corporate history. An earlier report on February 22 described the fab’s official opening and its planned process and products; the February 24 announcement specifically said construction was complete and wafer production had begun.
The plant was designed to make 8-inch (200 mm) wafers using a 0.35-micron process. At the time, that was described as the smallest feature size then achieved in China, though it was behind the global leading edge. It was presented as a major advance for China’s manufacturing capability, not as the world’s most advanced fab.
What were the plant’s capacity and product plans?
NEC and Shanghai Hua Hong announced an initial target of approximately 5,000 wafers per month, with plans to expand to 20,000 per month. These were launch-era plans, not verified long-term production totals.
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- Initial products: 64-Mbit DRAM devices and logic ICs.
- Intended markets: China’s custom market and the ASEAN/Asia-Pacific region, with longer-term plans to serve world markets.
- Investment: $1.2 billion, as announced by the partners in 1999.
How did the plant relate to China’s 909 Project?
The fab was a centerpiece of the 909 Project, one of the main goals of China’s Ninth Five-Year Plan, which covered 1996–2000. The project aimed to establish a competitive domestic semiconductor industry. HHNEC therefore mattered both as a manufacturing facility and as part of a broader state-backed industrial effort.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened to HHNEC after the launch?
Hua Hong’s corporate history says HHNEC successfully pilot-ran its DRAM production line in 1999. In 2003, it phased out DRAM production and began offering foundry services. That shift marks an important change from the fab’s initial memory-and-logic product plans to a foundry business model.
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