By Greg Gao

(JW Insights) Feb 15 -- Chinese IC maker Runpeng Semiconductor(润鹏半导体) began construction on its 12-inch wafer production plant in Shenzhen on February 10, JW Insights learned.

Runpeng Semiconductor is jointly invested by a Shenzhen state-owned assets management firm and China’s leading foundry and IDM CR Micro, headquartered in Wuxi of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.

The project’s total investment in the first phase is RMB22 billion(about $3.23 billion). The plant will focus on the analog IC of characteristic processes above 40 nanometers. Its products are mainly used in automotive electronics, new energy, industrial control, consumer electronics, and other fields. 

The completion of the project will give full play to the advantages of China’s leading semiconductor maker CR Micro’s business model, drive the cooperation and connection of the upstream and downstream industries, and help the development of the manufacturing industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to Runpeng Semiconductor.

The project is expected to be in production by the end of 2024, with a full annual capacity of 480,000 12-inch wafers for power chips.

CR Micro announced the project in October 2022.