From April 7 to 10, 2026, the 2026 Annual Plenary Committee Session and “Standards Week” of the National Technical Committee on Integrated Circuit Standardization (SAC/TC599) was convened in Wuhan. The event brought together leading officials, industry experts, and representatives from across the integrated circuit (IC) supply chain.
Addressing the plenary session, Yang Xudong, Director General of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Chair of SAC/TC599, noted that China’s IC industry is navigating a critical phase of transition and upgrading, where standardization plays a vital role. He called for accelerating the development of a full-chain standards system, issuing guidelines for system construction, and expediting foundational standards in advanced process nodes, advanced packaging, and core chips. He stressed the need to ensure effective implementation of standards and deepen international cooperation to translate Chinese technical solutions into global standards, thereby enhancing the industry’s global influence.
Keynote speeches were delivered by Hao Yue, Academician of Xidian University, who shared insights on frontier technologies including 3D integration, ultra-low loss power delivery, and wide-bandgap semiconductors; Zhang Xin, Senior Vice President of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), who focused on the localization of manufacturing equipment and components and called for joint action across the full industry chain to build the IC ecosystem; and Yang Daohong, Director of Hubei Jiangcheng Laboratory, who underscored the importance of system integration and interconnection standards.
The plenary committee session reviewed and approved SAC/TC599’s annual work report. The Standards Week also featured seven working group meetings, the inaugural meetings of the Silicon Photonics Working Group and the Chip Application Working Group, as well as standards dissemination sessions, industry demand-matching meetings, and technical discussions.
China’s IC industry is developing a standards system that is closely aligned with its technological advancement and industrial policies. This system may present new market access challenges for foreign companies, while also creating potential opportunities for collaboration in the standard-setting process. For European companies, this suggests that their strategies in China may need to extend beyond a traditional sales‑oriented approach. Greater engagement with China’s standardization ecosystem—through local collaboration, technology sharing, and mutual recognition of standards—could help build linkages between the technological and regulatory frameworks of Europe and China.
