IPO, innovation and industry: what a chipmaker's rise tells about China's push in memory sector
IPO、创新和产业：一家芯片制造商的崛起,折射出中国在存储器领域的前进之路。
This photo taken on July 27, 2026 shows Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo by Ge Chuanhong/Xinhua)
这张拍摄于 2026 年 7 月 27 日的照片，展示了中国东部安徽省合肥市国产存储芯片制造商长鑫存储科技有限公司 (CXMT) 。（新华社/葛传红摄）
BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- In just one decade, Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has transformed from a startup in an industry long dominated by global players into one of the world's largest producers of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and the most valuable listed company on the A-share market.
新华社北京8月6日电——短短十年的时间里，中国存储芯片制造商长信存储科技有限公司（CXMT）从全球巨头长期垄断行业的初创企业，转变为全球最大的动态随机存储器（DRAM）生产商之一，也是A股市场市值最高的上市公司。
The company's shares closed up 465.82 percent on its July 27 market debut, giving it a market capitalization of over 3.2 trillion yuan (about 471.2 billion U.S. dollars). Behind the blockbuster listing lies a decade-long story of technological breakthrough and an industrial experiment that offers a closer look at how China's memory chip sector is finding its own path.
该公司股价在7月27日上市时收盘上涨465.82%，市值超过3.2万亿元人民币（约合4712亿美元）。这场备受瞩目的上市背后，是长达十年的技术突破历程，这一产业实践让我们更深入地了解中国存储芯片行业如何找到自己的道路。
DECADE OF LEAPFROG R&D
十年跨越式研发
Founded in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, in 2016, CXMT has become China's largest and most comprehensive integrated device manufacturer (IDM) for DRAM.
长芯存储2016年在中国东部安徽省省会合肥成立，现已成为国内规模最大、业务最全面的DRAM整合器件制造商（IDM）。
As the generative AI boom drives unprecedented demand for memory chips, the company has carved out a formidable foothold in a sector where DRAM, one of the two primary memory chips and a cornerstone of the semiconductor industry, serves as a high-capacity "scratchpad" for computing systems, temporarily storing and retrieving active data.
生成式人工智能热潮催生了对存储芯片前所未有的需求，在该领域， DRAM作为两大主要存储芯片之一，是半导体行业基石，充当计算系统大容量“临时草稿本”，用于临时存储和检索活动数据，长鑫存储在此领域站稳脚跟，实力强劲。
"Driven by our mission to bridge technological gaps and secure the supply chain, we choose the arduous path of independent R&D, which demands heavy investment and a long-term commitment," said Zhu Yiming, chairman of CXMT.
长鑫董事长朱一鸣表示：“在弥合技术差距、保障供应链安全的使命驱动下，我们选择了艰难的自主研发道路，这需要巨额投入和长期坚守。”
Rather than pursuing a traditional, linear catch-up strategy, CXMT adopted an aggressive "leapfrog" R&D approach. In 2019, it launched its self-designed and manufactured 8Gb DDR4 product, a milestone in the Chinese mainland's DRAM industry.
长鑫存储没有采取传统的线性追赶策略，而是选择了大胆的“跨越式”研发方法。2019年，公司推出自主设计制造的8Gb DDR4产品，在中国大陆DRAM行业具有里程碑意义。
Within a few years, the company mass-produced four generations of process platforms and integrated high-end DDR5 products, achieving world-class standards in its core technologies.
短短数年间，公司实现四代工艺平台的量产并推出高端DDR5产品，核心技术达到世界一流水平。
The rapid technological leap is underpinned by CXMT's IDM business model. Recognizing that few fabless designers can navigate the extreme barriers of large-scale DRAM production, CXMT maintains full control over its R&D, design and manufacturing processes. This vertical integration has enabled highly efficient internal synergy, creating a robust intellectual property portfolio.
此次技术的快速飞跃是依托于长鑫存储的IDM商业模式。公司意识到无晶圆厂企业很难能够克服大规模DRAM生产的极高壁垒，因此长鑫保持对其开发、设计和制造流程的完全控制。这种垂直整合实现了高效的内部协同效应，构建了一个强大的知识产权体系。
The company reported that by the end of 2025, it had amassed nearly 7,000 patents covering the entire value chain from chip design to module applications, and invested more than 20.6 billion yuan in R&D between 2023 and 2025, accounting for 21.67 percent of its revenue over the period.
该公司报告称，截至2025年底，该公司已积累近7000项专利，涵盖从芯片设计到模组应用的全价值链，2023年至2025年间研发投入超过206亿元，占期内收入的21.67%。
The strategy has yielded tangible commercial results. Operating three 12-inch wafer fabs in Hefei and Beijing, CXMT ranks first in China and fourth globally in capacity, capturing a 7.67 percent global market share in the fourth quarter of 2025.
该战略取得了实实在在的商业成果。长鑫企业在合肥和北京运营着三座12英寸晶圆厂，产能位居国内第一，全球第四，2025年第四季度将占据7.67%的全球市场份额。
Financially, the turnaround is just as striking. After accumulating losses of 36.65 billion yuan through the end of 2025, CXMT expects first-half net profit of 50 billion to 57 billion yuan this year, according to its prospectus.
财务角度来看，企业的业绩反转同样亮眼。招股书显示，在截至2025年底累计亏损366.5亿元后，但长鑫企业预计今年上半年净利润可达500亿至570亿元。
CXMT is also pressing ahead with next-generation LPDDR6 memory, which industry sources say could put it at the forefront of global product launches, as the company seeks to move from catching up to setting the pace in DRAM technology.
长鑫存储还在推进下一代 LPDDR6 内存的研发，行业消息人士称，随着该公司寻求从追赶转向引领 DRAM 技术的步伐，该产品有望跻身全球产品发布的前沿。
PATIENT CAPITAL, WIDER INDUSTRY
耐心资本，赋能行业
The company's rise was not powered by market forces alone. Over the past decade, state capital from Hefei kept investing in CXMT, holding its position through industry downturns -- a display of what economists call patient capital -- and prioritizing long-term industrial development, employment and ecosystem building over short-term returns.
该公司的崛起不仅仅是由市场力量。过去十年，合肥的国有资本不断投资长鑫存储，在行业低迷时期仍坚持投入——这体现了经济学家所说的耐心资本——优先着眼于长期产业发展、就业和生态系统建设而非短期回报。
According to Liu Zhiying, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, the approach reflects a distinctive feature of China's industrial development, where government capital steps in early to fill gaps that private investors cannot or will not bear, and steps back as the industry matures.
中国科学技术大学教授刘志英认为，这种模式反映了中国工业发展的显著特征,即政府资本早期介入，填补民间投资者无力或不愿承受的缺口，待产业成熟后再逐步退出。
At the institutional level, a registration-based IPO system enabled the loss-making company to list, making it one of the STAR Market's anchor companies.
在制度层面，注册制IPO体系让这家尚处亏损的公司得以上市，成为科创板的主力公司之一。
CXMT's impact now extends far beyond the company itself. Around CXMT and wafer foundry Nexchip, Hefei has built an integrated circuit industry cluster that covers the entire chain from design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, to equipment and materials, one of only a handful of Chinese cities with such full-chain capabilities.
长鑫存储的影响现在远远超出了公司本身。围绕长鑫存储和晶圆代工厂合集成，合肥打造了一个涵盖从设计、制造、封装、测试到设备和材料的整个链条的集成电路产业集群，是中国为数不多的拥有这种全链条能力的城市之一。
More than 500 companies now operate in the cluster, including memory packaging firm Payton Technology, drawn by the ecosystem anchored by CXMT. The city's integrated circuit output value soared more than sevenfold, rising from 18 billion yuan in 2016 to over 150 billion yuan in 2025. This growth has fostered an industrial ecosystem where upstream and downstream firms thrive together.
目前有 500 多家公司入驻该集群，其中包括内存封装公司 佩顿科技，该公司受到以长鑫存储为核心的产业生态吸引。全市集成电路产值猛增7倍多，从2016年的180亿元增长到2025年的1500亿元以上。这种增长培育了一个上下游企业共同繁荣的产业生态系统。
Despite CXMT's major breakthrough in DRAM chips, challenges remain. The company faces a shortage of high-end talent and is still climbing the learning curve of full-chain operations and capacity ramp-up.
尽管长鑫存储在DRAM芯片方面取得了重大突破，但挑战依然存在。该公司面临高端人才短缺的问题，在全产业链运营与产能扩产方面仍处于持续积累经验的阶段。
CXMT is not alone in China's memory push. Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), the country's leading NAND flash chipmaker, filed for an IPO in May, and the two are widely seen as the twin engines of China's memory chip sector.
在国内存储芯片发展进程中，长鑫存储并不是孤军奋战。国内领先的NAND闪存芯片制造商长江存储于5月申请IPO，两者被广泛视为中国存储芯片板块的双引擎。
"CXMT's technology-driven entry into the global market confirms a new path, where technological breakthroughs are emerging as another engine of growth," said Tian Lihui, a finance professor at the Nankai University.
南开大学金融学教授田利辉表示：“长鑫存储凭借技术驱动进入全球市场，这标志着一条新的发展道路的开启，在这一路径中，技术突破正在成为推动增长的又一动力。”
"This trend reveals the core of China's economic transformation of rebuilding global industrial chains with core technological breakthroughs and converting independent innovation into sustainable growth momentum, which opens a new track led by new quality productive forces," Tian said.
田利辉表示：“这一趋势揭示了中国经济转型的核心：依靠核心技术突破重构全球产业链，将自主创新转化为可持续增长动力，这开辟了一条由新质生产力引领的新赛道。”
This photo taken on July 27, 2026 shows the logo of Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo by Ge Chuanhong/Xinhua)
这张拍摄于 2026 年 7 月 27 日的照片展示了位于中国东部安徽省合肥市的中国存储芯片制造商长鑫存储科技有限公司 (CXMT) 的标志。（葛传红摄/新华社）
