全球半導體產(chǎn)業(yè)重心繼續(xù)向中國轉移

HONG KONG — After Intel and Foxconn said they would build advanced factories in America, it might have seemed as if the United States were gaining high-end manufacturing momentum.

香港——在英特爾(Intel)和富士康(Foxconn)宣布將在美國修建先進的工廠后，也許看上去美國似乎在高端制造業(yè)勢頭強勁。

But on Friday, the California-based chip maker GlobalFoundries announced a $10 billion project in China, showing how the center of gravity continues to shift across the Pacific.

但周五，總部設在加利福尼亞州的芯片制造商GlobalFoundries宣布了一個投資額達100億美元(約合700億元人民幣)的項目，投資的目的地是中國。這表明，重心繼續(xù)在向太平洋對岸轉移。

The new advanced semiconductor factory, in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, is only the most recent in an array of investments, often by major multinationals, into China with the support of the Chinese government. The projects have become markedly more sophisticated, making more modern microchips, memory chips or flat-panel displays.

該公司計劃在中國腹地的成都新建一座先進的半導體工廠。這只是最近在中國政府的支持下進入中國的一系列投資中距今最近的一筆。這些投資的主體通常是大型跨國企業(yè)。相關項目已明顯變得更加高級，生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品則是更先進的微芯片、記憶芯片或平板顯示器。

The reason for the shift is in part the Chinese government. In 2013 Beijing announced a major initiative to expand the country’s ability to produce microchips, which act as the brains of everything from guided missiles to smartphones. Also driving the companies, according to analysts, are new guidelines urging Chinese electronics makers to buy chips made in China.

重心轉移的原因部分在于中國政府。2013年，北京宣布了一個旨在增強中國微芯片生產(chǎn)能力的重大行動。微芯片是從制導導彈到智能手機在內的一切物品的大腦。據(jù)分析人士稱，號召中國電子器件制造商購買中國制造的芯片的新指導方針，也在推動相關公司的決策。

Since China has begun focusing on semiconductors, the provenance of advanced chips has become an increasingly fraught political issue. The United States government has blocked several Chinese deals for American and European chip companies during the past two years, and a commission created by former President Barack Obama said China’s chip policies posed a risk to American companies.

因為中國已經(jīng)開始把重點放在半導體上，先進芯片的出處成了一個越來越令人擔憂的政治問題。過去兩年，美國政府叫停了中國向美國和歐洲芯片公司發(fā)出的交易要約，而前總統(tǒng)貝拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama)成立的一個委員會則稱，中國的芯片政策對美國公司構成了危險。

The election of President Trump has further increased pressure on companies, several of which have announced plans to build facilities in America. In Intel’s case, it was a recommitment to an earlier plan the company had announced.

特朗普總統(tǒng)當選導致相關公司面臨的壓力進一步增加，其中幾家已經(jīng)宣布了在美國建廠的計劃。以英特爾為例，該公司再次承諾實施其早前宣布的一個計劃。

Leading China’s charge have been both the central and provincial governments, which have been spending billions of dollars on investments and subsidies. The government has said China will spend about $100 billion to bring chip factories and research facilities to China.

領導中國這場攻勢的，既有中央政府，也有省一級政府。它們在投資和補貼上花了數(shù)十億美元。政府稱中國將投資大約1000億美元，用于把芯片工廠和研究設施引入中國。

“Almost all of the large semiconductor enterprises in the United States have received investment offers from Chinese state actors,” according to a report from the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a think tank based in Germany. The report added that China’s newest industrial policy, Made in China 2025, had named semiconductors as a crucial area to improve.

“美國幾乎所有大型半導體企業(yè)都收到過中國代表政府機構的主體發(fā)出的投資要約，”總部設在德國的智庫墨卡托中國研究中心(Mercator Institute for China Studies)發(fā)布的一份報告稱。該報告還接著表示，中國最新的工業(yè)政策《中國制造2025》將半導體列為了需要提升的關鍵領域。

Although analysts remain unsure of how quickly China might be able to close a huge gap with companies from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, the funds have been slowly attracting new plants. A semiconductor industry group said in a recent report that it was tracking the production of more than 20 semiconductor manufacturing plants in China.

盡管分析人士仍不確定中國大概能在多長時間內消除與日本、韓國、臺灣和美國公司之間的巨大差距，但資金一直在慢慢吸引新的工廠。一個半導體行業(yè)組織在最近的一份報告中稱，自己正在追蹤中國逾20家半導體制造廠的生產(chǎn)情況。

“Such spending momentum will drive China to the top-tier bracket for fab equipment and is paving the way to establish China’s position on the global semiconductor stage,” according to a recent report by SEMI, a global microelectronics industry association, referring to tools used to fabricate chips.

“這種花錢勢頭將推動中國獲得頂級微芯片制造設備，并且正在為建立中國在全球半導體舞臺上的地位鋪平道路，”全球微電子行業(yè)協(xié)會SEMI最近發(fā)布的一份報告說。它指的是用來制造芯片的工具。

The GlobalFoundries project is being built in cooperation with the Chengdu municipal government. GlobalFoundries declined to specify the amount of the investment, but several documents on government websites put the total project around $10 billion.

GlobalFoundries的項目已經(jīng)開建了，與它合作的是成都市政府。GlobalFoundries拒絕透露具體的投資金額，但政府網(wǎng)站上的幾份文件稱，該項目總投資100億美元左右。

Jason Gorss, a GlobalFoundries spokesman, declined to provide financial details but said in an email that “industry analysts estimate that the total cost of an advanced semiconductor fab is on the order of $10B and this fab will be in that range.” It is not clear how much investment is being provided by the company and how much by the Chengdu government.

GlobalFoundries的發(fā)言人賈森·戈爾斯(Jason Gorss)拒絕提供財務細節(jié)，但在一封電子郵件中稱“行業(yè)分析人士估計，修建一座先進的半導體制造廠的成本約為100億美元，這座制造廠將在這個范圍內”。目前尚不清楚該公司和成都市政府分別負擔多少投資。

Although the semiconductors produced at the plant will be a generation behind the most cutting-edge chip technology, they are based on a special design that is likely to make them useful in sensors for mobile devices, cars and other gadgets that are increasingly being connected to computer networks.

盡管該工廠生產(chǎn)的半導體將落后最尖端的芯片技術整整一代，但它們是基于一個特殊的設計。這種設計可能會讓它們能夠用于移動設備、汽車和其他日漸和計算機網(wǎng)絡相連的器械的傳感器中。

GlobalFoundries is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and owned by Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates. The company has semiconductor plants across the world, including two former IBM plants in the United States that it uses to make chips for the American military.

GlobalFoundries的總部設在加利福尼亞州的圣克拉拉，為阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國的成員國之一阿布扎比所有。該公司的半導體工廠遍布全球，包括美國境內的兩座用來為美國軍方生產(chǎn)芯片的工廠。這兩家工廠原本屬于IBM。

Although Intel and Foxconn have said they have plans to build in America, the factories being built in China greatly outnumber them.

雖然英特爾和富士康均表示計劃在美國建廠，但中國境內的在建工廠在數(shù)量上遠遠超過了它們。

In late 2015, a leading chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, said it would build a production facility in China despite longtime concerns from Taiwan’s government about insulating the industry from Chinese competition and potential intellectual property theft. Late last year, another major chip maker from Taiwan, United Microelectronics, said it would build a factory on the east coast of China.

盡管臺灣政府長期對讓該行業(yè)擺脫中國的競爭和潛在的知識產(chǎn)權盜竊感到擔憂，但2015年年底，領先的芯片制造商臺灣積體電路制造股份有限公司表示將在中國修建一個生產(chǎn)工廠。去年年底，臺灣另一家主要的芯片制造商聯(lián)華電子宣布，將在中國東部沿海地區(qū)修建一座工廠。

Other companies have taken different approaches. The American chip maker AMD has licensed technology to a Chinese joint venture, also in Chengdu. IBM has licensed chip technology to a separate local partner.

其他公司則采取了不同的方式。美國芯片制造商AMD把技術授權給了一家同樣位于成都的中國合資企業(yè)。IBM則把芯片技術授權給了當?shù)亓硗庖粋€合作伙伴。