An eight-inch-chip packaging research and development center will soon be established in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai.
The center will be set up in accordance with an agreement signed recently by the Advanced Packaging and Interconnect Alliance (APIA) and Shanghai-based ACE Semiconductor (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
The alliance is a global one formed by some major semiconductor firms from Europe, the United States and Japan.
APIA Chairman Ellery Buchanan said the introduction of eight-inch-chip packaging equipment would prepare the alliance for installing a packaging line for 12-inch chips in China.
Nie Pinghai, board chairman of ACE Semiconductor, said the planned packaging line would come into operation in the fourth quarter of this year.
ACE Semiconductor, for its part, would accelerate the mass production of the chips, which would establish China as a leading country in the world in chip packaging, he said.
(People's Daily July 22, 2002)
