Exclusive interview with Wang Ping, Party Secretary and General Manager of China Electronics Equipment Group: Building the "Third Pole" in the National Integrated Circuit Equipment Sector with a "National Mindset"

Ask AI · How can national thinking help achieve supply chain independence and control?

Editor’s Note: Among domestic semiconductor equipment companies, China Electronics Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Electro-Mechanical Equipment”) is a special entity—serving as a central enterprise responsible for tackling major national projects; as a market-oriented company, it must also respond to high-quality development demands in a way that aligns with the laws of the semiconductor industry. This group manages three national research institutes and 18 subsidiaries, continuously implementing bold reforms.

Wang Ping, Party Secretary and General Manager of Electro-Mechanical Equipment

Last year at SEMICON China, I first met Wang Ping, Party Secretary and General Manager of Electro-Mechanical Equipment. At that time, systemic reform was just beginning, focusing on shifting headquarters functions from administrative management to value creation, building new production relationships, and establishing an integrated, collaborative development model among subsidiaries, research institutes, and industry companies.

A year later, initial results of the reform are evident. However, against the backdrop of increasingly fierce market competition and the continuous reshaping of industry patterns driven by AI and computing power, Wang Ping has gained new insights into industry development and corporate progress.

Concentrating resources to create “single champion” products

By 2025, to further deepen reforms, Wang Ping launched two strategic contractions.

First, he坚持有所为、有所不为, actively退出光伏新能源产品业务. Wang Ping believes that corporate development should not pursue everything at once but focus on what the country needs, industry trends, and equipment capabilities, avoiding inefficient internal competition in red ocean markets.

Second, from over a hundred existing equipment types, he selected and cultivated “two types and eight categories” products, concentrating resources to build industry-leading champions. Wang Ping vividly summarized: “If the numerator stays the same and the denominator gets smaller, resource investment naturally becomes more focused.”

This decision is a strategic move for Electro-Mechanical Equipment to enhance core competitiveness amid intensifying competition.

By 2025, the company’s single champion products have made significant progress: domestic market share of ion implanters ranks first, new signed testing equipment contracts increased by 130% year-over-year, and the SiC substrate smart demonstration line has been successfully promoted to leading companies…

How to create a “single champion”? Wang Ping proposed the “1+4+4” methodology: “1” refers to setting concrete milestone goals based on three “wins”—winning against oneself, winning against industry competition, and winning against industry development trends; “4” promotes deep integration of innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain, and talent chain, building a virtuous cycle where innovation leads industry, industry attracts capital, capital gathers talent, and talent supports innovation; “4” also refers to establishing four support systems—supply chain construction, cost control, capability building, and incentive and restraint mechanisms—to solidify the foundation for industrial development.

Facing the “14th Five-Year Plan,” actively constructing new AI paradigms

At the new starting point of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” artificial intelligence is prioritized in Electro-Mechanical Equipment’s transformation and development. How can the semiconductor equipment industry integrate with AI to achieve high-quality growth?

SEMICON China 2026 Electro-Mechanical Equipment Booth

Wang Ping stated that currently, there are two main international paths: one is the “AI + Equipment” model, which involves collaboration with users from the source, using digital twin technology to build wafer fabs, and redefining equipment functions, forms, and operational logic driven by AI; the other is the “Equipment + AI” model, which leverages AI capabilities to enhance equipment performance. Electro-Mechanical Equipment is promoting industry transformation and upgrading through this approach. For example, building models based on customer needs, training with user data, and forming self-learning, iterative systems to optimize operation quality and efficiency in motion scheduling, precise control, and process prediction. However, compared to other fields, semiconductor equipment demands extremely high precision—tiny deviations can cause losses of tens of millions of yuan for users.

In this industry with such strict accuracy requirements, how can AI results be guaranteed to be precise and reliable?

Wang Ping said that data governance must be strengthened, significantly improving the quality and scale of training data to enhance the accuracy of specialized models; and a standardized state management mechanism should be established across the entire process of model development, training, optimization, and application to ensure controllability, traceability, and predictable results.

“Supply chain” is the key to equipment independence and strength

Wang Ping believes that achieving independence and strength in semiconductor equipment first requires autonomous and controllable supply chains.

To strengthen the core supply chain system, Wang Ping innovatively launched a “horse racing” mechanism in 2025. Focusing on major projects, Electro-Mechanical Equipment releases key technical indicators for supply chains across the industry, simultaneously releasing demand, organizing suppliers for concentrated technical clarification, and precisely targeting current and future development directions. A multi-dimensional evaluation system covering technology achievement, cost control, delivery efficiency, and service quality is established to ensure transparency, fairness, and justice in the selection process. Under the competitive environment of multiple suppliers, market rules favor “priority for the best, dynamic optimization.”

This mechanism promotes long-term strategic collaboration between Electro-Mechanical Equipment and supply chain companies, moving beyond one-time transactions to deep, strategic partnerships. It effectively stimulates innovation and participation enthusiasm among suppliers, while controlling costs and ensuring long-term stable supply of core components, enhancing supply chain resilience.

From an industry perspective, some domestic component applications are insufficiently driven. For example, the Yangtze River Delta region has good resource reserves of component companies with potential to transition into supporting semiconductor equipment, but yield and reliability still need improvement. To reach a “usable” level, continuous validation and iteration are necessary, driven by sufficient market volume to sustain R&D and production investments.

SEMICON China 2026 Electro-Mechanical Equipment Booth

Wang Ping said that if equipment companies standardize procurement of verified components, the resources saved can be invested in developing new technology nodes, thereby improving overall industry innovation efficiency and reducing “internal competition.” Through collaborative mechanisms, equipment companies can effectively lower costs, and component suppliers can also benefit from sustained development.

Expanding into new domains and qualities, striving to create the industry’s “third pole”

Looking ahead, Wang Ping clarified Electro-Mechanical Equipment’s core goal—to build the “third pole” in the national integrated circuit equipment sector.

He sees the current domestic semiconductor equipment industry mainly divided into three types: first, regional state-owned enterprises like North China Electric; second, private tech startups like XinKaiLai; and third, central enterprises like Electro-Mechanical Equipment. As the “national team” and the “third pole,” Electro-Mechanical Equipment has three core missions: first, stay true to its original mission and shoulder responsibilities, fully tackling major national tasks; second, focus on innovation and strategic positioning, especially in compound semiconductor equipment to build core advantages; third, strengthen the industry and increase value, aiming for a market value of over 50 billion yuan by 2030, with long-term goals of reaching a trillion-yuan industry group.

Based on this goal, in 2026, Electro-Mechanical Equipment will focus on three major campaigns: helping “two types and eight categories” of single champion products become mainstream and top-tier; building a capital market platform; and investing in new domains and qualities of equipment to create a second growth curve.

“These three campaigns are our core work for 2026, and the reason we pay close attention to AI is because equipment + AI is our main track for new domains and qualities,” Wang Ping said.

Currently, sectors like AI, 3DIC, and storage are experiencing strong growth. For Wang Ping, these hot sectors are also strategic directions for Electro-Mechanical Equipment. He pointed out that AI drives rapid growth in computing chips, and this growth creates opportunities for semiconductor equipment—an era that Electro-Mechanical Equipment must seize.

Toward the end of the conversation, Wang Ping again mentioned “national thinking”—the main narrative he shared with reporters last year. Under the guidance of “national thinking,” he sees both a sense of mission and an urgent need for institutional transformation. Facing the dual pressures of serving national strategies and competing in the market, Wang Ping stated: “We will seize the opportunities of the times, work tirelessly, and strive for excellence to contribute to equipment independence and strength.”

Author | Ji Xiaoting

Editor | Zhang Xinyi

Design | Maria

Supervision | Zhao Chen