China is likely to attract US$10 billion in wafer plant investment from 2006 to 2010, and the domestic semiconductor market size will double in the period to account for one-third of the global level, the IT regulator said yesterday.

A total of five 12-inch wafer plants and five eight-inch wafer plants will be built in the country, the Ministry of Information Industry said on its Website, citing the national 11th five-year plan on the semiconductor industry.

The 12-inch wafer plants, which represent the most advanced technology in the Chinese mainland, include Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp's Shanghai and Wuhan plants and Intel's Dalian plant, according to Li Ke, an analyst at Beijing-based research firm CCID Consulting.

Intel's plant, which broke ground in September, costs US$2.5 billion and it is the single biggest investment in the history of the country's semiconductor industry.

China's semiconductor market revenue will hit 830 billion yuan (US$113 billion) in 2010 compared with 380 billion yuan in 2005, mainly fueled by soaring demand for mobile phones, laptops and automobile electronics, according to the ministry.

(Shanghai Daily January 11, 2008)