Bloomberg:

I have a little bit multi-pronged questions. First of all, I'd like to ask about semiconductors. How will China support the development of semiconductors during the 14th Five-Year Plan? What kind of projects are considered key in the next five years? What kind of measures will the government take to support China's chip R&D and manufacturing? More broadly, I'd also like to ask that the U.S. government has blocked business ties between some of China's companies and their U.S. chip suppliers, and some scientific collaboration between Chinese and American universities have also faced scrutiny, what's the Ministry's plan to resolve these issues in relation to the U.S. and their actions on not only semiconductor suppliers but also researchers? Thank you.

Wang Zhigang:

Thanks for your questions. Your first question is about how China will support the development of semiconductors. It can be said that in the information age, the semiconductor and integrated circuit industry is a core industry. It is a strategic, fundamental and pioneering industry that supports economic and social development, and a very important industry to lead the next round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the semiconductor industry. In July last year, the State Council promulgated several policies for the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry and the software industry in the new era, covering fiscal measures and taxation; investment and financing; R&D; import and export; talents; intellectual property rights; market applications; and international cooperation. In addition, the semiconductor industry is a globalized industry and the Chinese government has always upheld the principle of open development and win-win cooperation, making full use of global resources to continuously promote technological innovation and jointly promote the development of the global integrated circuit industry.

At present, China is the world's largest and fastest-growing integrated circuit market. We certainly hope that globalized cooperation will continue,but at the same time, China itself will continue to strengthen independent innovation. We will continue strengthening scientific and technological innovation in integrated circuit-related fields, improve technological innovation capabilities and the quality and autonomy of industrial development.

In terms of scientific and technological R&D, we will mainly focus on some key core technologies and cutting-edge research in integrated circuits, software, high-end chips, and new-generation semiconductor technologies. We will offer support via the national plan in key R&D; motivate companies to be key players in innovation; and promote the deep integration of industries, universities, and research institutes, to improve the environment and platforms for innovation in the integrated circuit sector and other fields. We will also cultivate talents to improve innovation capabilities.

As you mentioned earlier, there are now some problems with the cooperation between China and the U.S., which is not what we would like to see. We still hope to continue international scientific and technological cooperation in the semiconductor field and we value further international cooperation in the integrated circuit and software sectors. We make active efforts to create a good environment for global companies to invest and develop in China. We also encourage Chinese and overseas business communities to strengthen cooperation. During cooperation, we will also strengthen intellectual property rights protection; strictly implement the protection system for intellectual property rights in the integrated circuit and software sectors; put in place stricter punishments for intellectual property infringements; and vigorously develop intellectual property rights services related to integrated circuits and software.

In short, the integrated circuit industry is an important foundation for China's high-quality economic development, and it must be the focus of China's R&D as well as scientific and technological work. Next, we will actively promote international scientific and technological cooperation among companies, universities, research institutes, and other innovative entities based on mutual benefit, to enhance the scientific and technological innovation capabilities in integrated circuit industry. We will also strengthen China’s independent R&D capabilities in the field. We hope to have more outcomes to not only serve China's information industry and applications, but also support and serve the global integrated circuit industry. Thank you.