How China is helping Huawei make advanced chips to take on the US

In late 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Huawei, cutting off its access to global semiconductor supply chains and leaving the company fighting for survival. Cut to three years later, in September of 2023, the Chinese phone maker took everyone by surprise, especially the US, as it made an advanced 7nm chipset – the HiSilicon Kirin 9000S – powering its latest phone – the Mate 60 Pro – defying US sanctions.

Before the sanctions, Huawei bet $67 billion on a deal with SMIC, a state-supported foundry trying to catch up with the leading chipmakers. SMIC found a way to produce advanced chips using outdated equipment. Huawei contacted SMIC to create a new smartphone “system on a chip” called Charlotte. However, in December 2020, SMIC was put on the US sanctions list. To build Charlotte, SMIC had to deal with an unfamiliar, advanced process and new restrictions on acquiring and managing equipment.