China's deficit in its integrated circuit trade topped US$100 billion for the first time in 2010, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.

The deficit was more than 10 times the figure of 10 years ago. The country's IC imports of high-end chips with core technologies have risen every year since 2000, leading to a widening IC trade deficit of more than US$100 billion in 2010 from just US$8.6 billion in 2000, according to the ministry.

Imports of IC products have become the nation's biggest import sector for seven consecutive years.

China's IC industry revenue is expected to hit 142.4 billion yuan (US$21.6 billion) last year, an annual rise of 28.4 percent.

The country's IC market size has grown to 8.5 percent of the global market from less than 1 percent in 2000.

"China's IC industry is at the low-end of the global industry chain although its revenue figure is huge," said Xu Xiaotian, vice director of the China Semiconductor Industry Association.

The lack of innovation is a threat to national security and the industry's sustained development, the ministry said, adding more funds will be invested in the IC industry.