China’s state-backed Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE), often dubbed China’s best ASML challenger, has reshuffled its business, divesting a manufacturing arm as it sharpens its focus on research for chip self-sufficiency. SMEE had transferred 100% of its subsidiary Shanghai Weiyao Industrial to AMIES Technology. The deal was valued at CNY228.5 million. Founded in 2003, Shanghai Weiyao’s business scope includes the processing of metal components and materials – a move that effectively shifts part of SMEE’s production to AMIES, a spin-off established in early 2025.
The transaction signaled a strategic pivot for SMEE as it concentrated more heavily on the “front-end” development of lithography tools as part of China’s broader move to catch up with Dutch ASML. AMIES, meanwhile, has accelerated the commercialization of equipment for domestic chipmakers. AMIES drew attention at an industry expo in Shenzhen last October, showcasing products ranging from compound semiconductor lithography machines to laser annealing systems, inspection tools, and packaging and wafer bonding solutions.
Despite the fanfare, AMIES’ most proven production-grade lithography tools are still believed to support legacy manufacturing processes of around the 90-nanometer node and above, underscoring the distance between China’s domestic offerings and the most advanced systems produced by ASML.
China has stepped up support for domestically made chipmaking equipment as U.S. export controls – echoed by allies including the Netherlands and Japan – continue to restrict China’s access to advanced chips and leading-edge manufacturing tools. In December, SMEE won a government procurement contract to supply a lithography system labelled SSC800/10 for about CNY110 million. The system was expected to be deployed on a domestic production line tied to a research or manufacturing unit, with Chinese media reports saying it could bolster the country’s capabilities in chips made with mature process nodes, the South China Morning Post reports.
