KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): China is now the world’s largest consumer of packaging equipment and materials, driven by heavy government investment, intergrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing in China which generated US$29 billion in revenue in 2017, according to the U.S.-based Semiconductor Equipment and Material International’s (SEMI) recent China Semiconductor Packaging Industry Outlook report.

In a statement on its website yesterday, SEMI said the report, based on research conducted between July 2017 through the end of January 2018, also revealed that China’s IC packaging and testing industry is more mature than its IC manufacturing and design sectors, though IC packaging and testing revenue growth has slowed in recent years.

SEMI said it surveyed 87 semiconductor packaging- and assembly-related companies for the research report, including key semiconductor packaging manufacturers in China.

It said more than 100 companies compete in China’s packaging and assembly market, including leading multinational companies and emerging domestic players.

“More than half of China’s packaging companies are located in the Yangzi delta region, while midwestern China has emerged as a hotbed for packaging plants,” it said.

Among the highlights of the report were that in 2017, China accounted for about 26% of the global packaging materials market, with China’s packaging materials revenue forecast to exceed US$5.2 billion in 2018.

Also in 2017, the China assembly equipment market reached US$1.4 billion in revenue, remaining the world’s largest with 37%.