China tightens chip-design protection and clarifies rights to spur innovation

Revised rules sharpen penalties and expand rights, underscoring Beijing’s strategy to build resilience across semiconductor and AI ecosystem

Premier Li Qiang signed a State Council decree to promulgate the revised rules on the protection of layout designs of integrated circuits, Xinhua reported on Monday. The new rules will take effect on October 15.

Chip design serves as the blueprint for the entire semiconductor value chain. While domestic chip manufacturing remains constrained by US restrictions on the import of advanced equipment, mastering chip design enables Chinese firms to innovate around bottlenecks through custom architectures, such as specialised hardware-software co-design strategy that Huawei Technologies is betting on.

It calls for efforts to “refine and strengthen mature-node processes, enhance capabilities in advanced process technologies, accelerate development of key equipment, materials and components, and advance high-performance processors and high-density memory”.