China declares it is now the leading global chipmaking power — mainly because it just changed the definition of what a semiconductor is | Tech Radar
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China declares it is now the leading global chipmaking power — mainly because it just changed the definition of what a semiconductor is
Broadening a definition with a first-mover advantage?
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China's State Council published a revised integrated-circuit layout-design regulation, deleting the words "semiconductor integrated circuit" from its definitions article, essentially rewriting what it considers an integrated circuit
The regulation does retain mentions of "semiconductor material substrate", but chooses to expand on its definition in a separate clause
It also expressly extends protection to photonic and quantum chip design layouts from October 2026
China's State Council has published the revised Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, the first systematic rewrite of a text that had sat untouched since April 2001.
The revision was adopted at the State Council's 91st executive meeting on July 10, 2026, promulgated as Decree No. 842 on July 23, and takes effect on October 15, 2026.
The change drawing the attention is also the smallest in the document which saw "semiconductor integrated circuit" struck from the front of the definitions article, so that Chinese law now effectively protects the layout of an integrated circuit rather than the layout of a semiconductor one.
A more liberal approach to chip design IP from China?
Beijing's aim is to bring photonic and quantum chips within the same protection regime that semiconductor designs already enjoy, but the change is being read as a claim to future leadership in chip design.
The National Intellectual Property Administration published two expert interpretations alongside the regulation.
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The one generating the most buzz is by Guo He of the Intellectual Property Academy at Renmin University of China. Guo notes that photonic integrated devices and quantum chip technology are advancing quickly and that optoelectronic chips are already in wide use in some fields, then concedes that the deletion looks inconsequential on its face, since monolithic integrated circuits everywhere still need semiconductor material as a substrate.
His case for its significance is about posture rather than capability: the point of formally striking the phrase, he argues, is to show that the Chinese are "no longer conservatives in the intellectual property system."
The claim is about legislative attitude rather than actual leadership, but it lands at a moment when the US and China are still wrestling over AI, with chip design a crucial factor: whoever has the fastest silicon to train their models holds a significant edge.
The US chip embargo, which has since softened, has produced an unintended beneficiary in Huawei, whose chairman thanked the US government for sanctions he credits with building China's domestic semiconductor chain.
The regulation indicates that China is seeking to secure its IP both at home and abroad as the state continues to invest heavily across that chain. Layout protection is a serious subject, and The Register's analysis notes why: a die layout is expensive and slow to produce, and copying one is a shortcut.
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Strengthening that protection is the revision's main purpose. The provisions doing the work, however, have nothing to do with definitions. They cover damages, tighten the requirements governing how designs are submitted, and allow third parties to request revocation of a registration, a power previously held only by the administration, with outside parties limited to submitting suggestions. A revoked right is now deemed never to have existed.
Alibaba, Huawei, Cambricon and Loongson have all shipped parts that credibly compete with American designs, and protecting them from copyists is a rational move for Beijing.
China's real ambition, however, may lie elsewhere, as the Jamestown Foundation's April 2026 assessment sets out: Chinese labs sit at or near the frontier on several photonic research benchmarks, while the United States and Taiwan still hold the segments of the supply chain that turn demonstrations into shippable products.
By revamping its regulations, China hopes to keep its photonics research and, in future, its quantum research, visible yet protected.
If photonic and quantum layouts do become commercially significant, the material-specific language embedded in American and European national instruments creates a gap someone eventually has to close. Beijing has moved first, at least on paper, even if it lacks the tools to build the chips just yet.
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