A 12-inch wafer production line in S China's Guangdong has been put into operation.

"The project is aimed at scarce products in the country, such as high-end analog chips, automobile electronics, biomedical testing and 5G front-end modules." said Tony Chen, president and CEO of CanSemi Technology Inc., which owns the production line.

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2019 shows a view of the facility focusing on the 12-inch wafer production line in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong. (Provided to Xinhua)

A 12-inch wafer production line, the first of its kind in south China's Guangdong Province, has been put into operation.

The 12-inch chip production line, which started operation Friday, is at the first phase and at present focuses on manufacturing 0.18um-90nm analog ICs and discrete devices. It is expected to achieve a monthly production capacity of 40,000 12-inch wafers.

With a total investment of 28.8 billion yuan (about 4.06 billion U.S. dollars), the facility began construction in March 2018 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong.

The second phase will focus on the world's most advanced 65nm-40nm high-voltage BCD technology.

"The project is aimed at scarce products in the country, such as high-end analog chips, automobile electronics, biomedical testing and 5G front-end modules, which is expected to further drive the upstream and downstream enterprises to achieve a production value of 100 billion yuan," said Tony Chen, president and CEO of CanSemi Technology Inc., which owns the production line.

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2019 shows the inside view of the facility focusing on the 12-inch wafer production line in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong. (Provided to Xinhua)

Statistics showed that there are 26 12-inch chip production lines being built and under construction in China, and upon completion, the total production capacity of 12-inch chips will reach 1.11 million per month.

Guangdong already has two chip manufacturers, featuring production of 8-inch and 6-inch wafers, with a combined capacity of about 70,000 wafers per month. It is far short of the chip demands in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Editor: Monica Liu