The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled “The Chinese Company Taking On the World’s Memory-Chip Giants,” examining China-based memory-chip manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) as it prepares for a large-scale public offering and rapidly advances its technology—developments that could disrupt an industry long dominated by South Korean and U.S. firms.
The report cites research by the Economic Security Program at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), noting that CXMT’s progress despite U.S. end-use controls on memory chips reflects systematic support by Chinese local governments to cultivate national champion firms. According to DSET’s analysis, this strategy has included acquiring thousands of patents from a German chipmaker and recruiting a large number of Taiwanese memory engineers.
Full report: https://dset.tw/research/the_rise_of_cxmt/
The Wall Street Journal reports that, backed by Chinese government funding and industrial policy, CXMT has rapidly expanded its capacity for mass production of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), raising its global market share to approximately 5–6 percent. As established DRAM leaders—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology—shift resources toward higher-margin AI applications such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), CXMT has emerged as a key firm in Beijing’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency and in filling gaps in the global memory market.
In the report “The Rise of CXMT: Inside the Hydra-like Chinese Memory Sector” DSET Economic Security Program Non-Resident Fellow Tsai-yi Wang notes that as AI demand for high-capacity and high-bandwidth memory surges, memory chips have shifted from a product driven largely by business cycles to a strategic asset in technology geopolitics. Control over memory supply, the report argues, is increasingly tied to leadership in future AI and advanced computing ecosystems.
The Wall Street Journal also references DSET’s finding that CXMT’s industrial foundation was built through the systematic acquisition of external resources. DSET’s research shows that CXMT secured its early technological base by purchasing thousands of patents from the bankrupt German memory maker Qimonda, and by recruiting large numbers of overseas semiconductor professionals, including Taiwanese memory engineers, to rapidly enhance its R&D and manufacturing capabilities.
The article further cites Gregory Allen, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who warns that CXMT’s ambitions in AI-oriented high-bandwidth memory are particularly concerning. U.S. export controls have in recent years blocked Huawei from obtaining HBM chips; if CXMT were able to fill that gap, Allen notes, it would be highly valuable to Beijing.
Published in October 2025, DSET’s report traces CXMT’s early development over the past decade, examining how the company emerged from among China’s many memory-chip ventures and remained active on the global stage despite tightening U.S. controls.
The report further highlights the role of the local-government-led “Hefei model” in CXMT’s growth. Under this approach, the city of Hefei strategically invests in industries with large market demand and reinvests returns into subsequent industrial initiatives, successfully nurturing several major technology firms—of which CXMT is a representative case in the memory sector.
DSET’s Economic Security Program concludes that while memory chips may appear to be a secondary front in technology geopolitics, the rise of CXMT carries significant implications for economic security. To sustain technological leadership, the report argues, technology democracies must take seriously the rapid advancement of China’s memory industry and respond proactively.
