Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) factory in Wuhan, China. (Source: Nikkei Asian) Rise of the chip manufacturing business Once a month, senior executives from Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) fly to Beijing for a series of meetings with China’s top economic regulators. They focused on the company’s efforts in developing some of the world’s most advanced computer memory chips. Headquartered in downtown Wuhan, YMTC is considered a pioneer in efforts to create the domestic semiconductor industry. YMTC has mass-produced state-of-the-art 64-layer and 128-layer NAND flash memory chips, which are used in almost every electronic device from smartphones to servers to cars. These things help YMTC compete with big players in the industry such as Micron Technology of the US or Samsung Electronics of Korea. Equipment used to make high-end computer chips is mostly imported in the US. Some chip design and manufacturing processes such as etching, ion implantation, electrochemical deposition, design software… are all in the hands of American companies. To manufacture without using American technology is a big challenge for a new company that has been operating since 2016 like YMTC and also represents China’s great ambition in the field of semiconductor industry development. especially after the economic sanctions that the US imposed on China. However, the dizzying rise of YMTC has shown China’s strength in the chip industry. The business started in 2016 and within four years has mass-produced some of the most advanced 3D NAND flash memory chips in the world. The Beijing government also recognizes the importance of developing the semiconductor industry and makes efforts to support these companies. “Competition for chips is increasing as all major economies, not just China, have realized the importance of chips,” said Roger Sheng, a chip analyst at consulting firm Gartner. Semiconductors”. Currently, YMTC, is still in the “target” of the US government. But under the guidance of the Beijing government, they have conducted a review of the supply chain, looking for local component suppliers, or non-US suppliers, to gradually eliminate the country’s dependence on technology. Based in the city of Wuhan, YMTC’s efforts did not stop even when the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc last spring. According to sources familiar with the matter, after Wuhan reopened in April 2021, YMTC mobilized hundreds of engineers stationed inside the production campus, working three shifts a day with the aim of overhauling all production processes and replace as many foreign imported components as possible. Efforts to localize production The effort to localize chip production is an opportunity for a new generation of Chinese chipmakers like YMTC. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in remarks published in January 2021: “We must strengthen self-innovation and make breakthroughs in some core technologies as soon as possible.” According to the Nikkei Asian , plans to end dependence on the US have long been carried out by China and massively invested by the state, but progress is still very slow. For example, the plan to self-produce semiconductors has a target of 70% by 2025. But of the total revenue in 2020, China’s semiconductor manufacturing enterprises account for only 5.9% of sales. domestic products, while foreign companies with headquarters in China account for the rest of sales in the country. According to the Magazine China Stocks , while the threat of sanctions from the US has always lingered, the source of state aid, with subsidies and investments from local governments and the private sector has amounted to at least 170 billion USD since Since 2014 has helped chip manufacturing enterprises to localize production efforts. In addition, orders from domestic technology giants such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Lenovo are also the reason their production is guaranteed. The US sanctions are a wake-up call for China’s semiconductor industry. (Source: Nikkei Asian) In fact, the trade war with the US and its sanctions against technology giant Huawei have given the Chinese government an opportunity to decouple from the world’s largest economy. – something they’ve always wanted. The US sanctions seem to have removed the main obstacle for domestic consumers, who always prefer to use chips from foreign suppliers. The manager of a chip maker in China told the site Nikkei Asian : “In the past, domestic chipmakers used only the manufacturing equipment that all the world’s leading chipmakers such as Samsung and Intel use in their production lines. Who wants to use and try new products without being sure of the quality of the production?” However, when sanctions from the US appeared, Chinese manufacturers considered alternatives, and domestically produced chip products were a reasonable choice. The manager emphasized: “It also means that domestic enterprises have really had the opportunity to test and upgrade their products – the goal that the whole country is aiming for.” Roger Sheng, a semiconductor analyst at Research Gartner, found that the US-China tensions confirmed the view that it was necessary to localize production. Now, the whole country agrees that building a semiconductor industry is possible and increasing self-reliance is a top priority. Unbreakable bond? Despite China’s considerable efforts, not many experts believe that the country’s chip sector will be completely separate from the US. The world’s two largest economies are still linked, dependent on each other and also two large semiconductor markets. According to a January report by the Brookings Institution, Chinese businesses account for at least 25% of the sales of most US chip businesses, and not everyone wants to break out of the market altogether. Chad Bown, an expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the US President Joe Biden’s approach to China was still unclear. On the one hand, the US expects China to buy more chips as promised in recent trade talks but also continues to restrict China’s use of US technologies. Since 2018 to date, a total of 162 Chinese entities have been sanctioned by the Trump Administration. In April 2021, the US Department of Commerce also added seven Chinese “supercomputer” entities to the economic blacklist, to restrict these businesses from using US technology. In reality, it is still difficult to completely decouple the supply of semiconductors, which involve thousands of suppliers from around the world and have been closely intertwined for decades. China may try to reduce its dependence on the United States, but without American sources of technology, it is unlikely to accelerate its technological progress. But Miin Wu, founder and president of Macronix International, a leading memory chip maker in Taiwan (China) that serves Apple, Sony and Nintendo, stressed: “In the short term, due to geopolitical uncertainties China’s technological development may be slowed down. However, in the long run, China will certainly hope to build a competitive semiconductor industry.” (according to Nikkei Asia)

There are many Great Walls in Beijing, with a total length of about 573 kilometers. Badaling, Mutianyu, Juyongguan, Gubeikou… Regarding the Great Wall, there are many controversial selections in the market. But if it is the most precarious one, it should be no controversy. The Jiuyanlou Great Wall is actually part of the Jiankou Great Wall. The Nine Eyes Tower is an enemy platform on the Great Wall. It is located on the main peak of Huoyan Mountain between Sihai Town in Yanqing and Yanqi Town in Huairou. It is 1,141 meters above sea level (1170 meters in one case), which is 155 meters higher than the Wangjing Tower in Simatai. The Nine Eyes Tower is known as the first floor of the Great Wall of China, and it is the largest and highest-level enemy building on the Great Wall. How big is it? There are nine arrow windows on each side of the Jiuyanlou, which is why it is called the “Nine Eyes Tower” (so this section of the Great Wall is also called the Jiuyanlou Great Wall). There are 36 arrow windows on all sides, which are rare among the enemy buildings of the Great Wall. . (On the Yanqing Ming Great Wall, there are about 470 hollow enemy platforms. Except for the Nine Eyes Tower, there are no more than 5-6 arrow windows at most) The location of the Great Wall of the Nine Eyes Tower is very important. The Ming Great Wall is divided into two groups here, the inner Great Wall and the outer Great Wall. It can be seen that in addition to high altitude and large scale, its geographic location is also very important. The Nine Eyes Tower was built in the Ming Dynasty, and the specific age is untestable. It was originally a two-story hollow enemy platform. Now the upper floor has been destroyed. The restored Nine Eyes Tower is very majestic, but it is a bit too new and has no historical vicissitudes before it was repaired. sense. The picture below is from the Yanqing Cultural Tourism Bureau, the Nine Eyes Building before the renovation. Although the elevation of Jiuyanlou is high, it is not very laborious to get up. From the entrance of the scenic spot, the straight-line distance is about 1.5 kilometers, and the elevation rise is not large. There are very few tourists, and occasionally encounter friends who are outdoors and on foot, and some are travel friends who professionally explore the Great Wall. Although it is already mid-April, in the mountains, spring is still long overdue. Therefore, this kind of purple flower is particularly dazzling, like purple pearls under the sun, I searched it, and it is called Yinghong Rhododendron. As the saying goes, in April the world will be full of flowers, and the mountain temple Du Juan will begin to bloom. Climbing to the Nine Eyes Tower, the view is particularly good, and the scenery is very spectacular. The eagles of the Jiankou Great Wall, the Western Great Wall, the Beijing knot, and the Xizhazi Village at the foot of the mountain, and the Huoyanshan Yingpan site not far away clear and distinct. The Great Wall winds between the mountains and is really magnificent. The Jiankou Great Wall is indeed a great wall with stories. Eagles fly down, Beijing knots, Jiuyanlou…each of them can tell many stories. The eagle flying upside down is the most dangerous part of the Great Wall. Legend has it that eagles have to turn upside down and fly upside down, hence the name eagle flying upside down. In the early years, it is said that every year there are people here who “memorialize the Great Wall with their lives”. This is the news. The “Beijing knot” is also called the Great Wall knot. Three Great Walls in different directions meet here. To the east is Mutianyu, to the south is Jiuyanlou, and to the west is Huanghuacheng. This is also the “only one” in the history of the Great Wall. The position of the red circle is the Beijing junction on the Great Wall, where the three Great Walls meet. The Huoyanshan Yingpan site is approximately 300 meters away from the Jiuyan Tower in a straight line. From the arrow window of the Jiuyan Building, you can see the Huoyanshan Yingpan. Back to Jiuyanlou. In recent years of archaeology and repairs, it was discovered that the Jiuyan Tower was actually the junction and intersection of the Great Walls of Jizhen, Changzhen, and Xuanzhen in the Ming Dynasty. From this perspective, it is the real’Beijing junction’. The picture below shows the interior of the existing middle floor of the Nine Eyes Building, with all kinds of Umbrellas Returning from the Nine Eyes Tower, I will be in a restaurant on the side of the highway, fried mushrooms, stewed fish…hurry up to make up for myself, after all, climbing the Great Wall is very physically exhausting.

The reporter learned that Beijing Lizetian Street has a commercial building area of ​​92,000 square meters, consisting of 5 floors above ground and 2 floors underground. Up to now, the investment promotion rate of the project has reached 100%, and nearly 200 brands have settled in. Nearly half of the brand stores are concept stores, customized stores, and image stores, including Michelin-starred restaurants, life aesthetics experience halls, new retail smart stores, International fashion designer brand. Lize Financial Business District is the first “five-line transfer” area in the Beijing subway plan. It serves as a direct connection to Metro Line 11, Line 14, Line 16, Daxing International Airport Line and Lize Business District-Financial Street. At the intersection of lines, Beijing’s Lizetian Street radiates not only a large number of business customers and high-quality families, but also a steady stream of business travelers in the future. This new combination of high-quality urban customers will give Beijing Lize Tianjie brings a more special positioning. It is reported that the business philosophy of Beijing Lize Tianjie is to bring consumers a high-quality lifestyle. Most of the brands that have settled in Beijing Lizetian Street have implemented high-end product line layouts or built special scene stores to present a better brand image. For example, ZARA brought the first shopping mall image store, Chow Tai Fook brought Beijing exclusive “gift” theme experience store, Swarovski opened a new retail concept store-Crystal Studio, in addition, Haima, Sisyph, Vientiane Studios, Box Brands such as Ma Xiansheng, Jidu Moisture, TONI&GUY, Neiyan Yoga, and Lihe Fitness also constitute a combination of brands that co-create lifestyle scenes. In terms of catering layout, Beijing Lizetian Street has fully considered the richness of business combinations and the quality of the overall atmosphere, and has assembled a number of high-quality, high-traffic catering brands, such as the introduction of Xiaodadong Blues Beijing Image Upgrade Store, Hey Tea The latest image store, Tim Hortons flagship image “Golden Maple Store” and many other high-quality catering and popular brands, satisfying the gathering options of different scenes such as business, girlfriends, parent-child, etc., make the dining scene more diverse and rich. In addition to the brand portfolio, Beijing Lizetian Street will also focus on label elements such as “fun, art, fashion”, link high-quality IP resources, and jointly create fun exhibitions, art exhibitions and other activities to present a new urban lifestyle scene. Among them, the first national exhibition of the LABUBU sprite art series jointly created by Beijing Lizetian Street and Bubble Mart will be unveiled on April 16. The national first exhibition of the LABUBU sprite art series has designed AR interactive photography, star cafes, etc. Multiple immersive interactive check-in points will enable consumers to be on the spot and explore their hidden talents. In addition, Beijing Lizetian Street, Today Art Museum and Houlang Publishing House will jointly create the art theme area of ​​”What kind of life do you want to live”. At the same time, it will also work with the Beijing International Flower Design Festival’s derivative brand “Future Garden” to create a fashionable and energetic The flower planting device satisfies the endless reverie of the future scene space of the consumers. Source: Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Ma Jing Editor: Wang Qiong Process Editor Wu Yue