Bai Peng, Hua Hong’s chairman and president, downplayed the impact of US export controls on the company’s capacity expansion plans
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAnn Caoin ShanghaiandHoward Liuin BeijingPublished: 8:27pm, 14 May 2026China’s leading semiconductor foundries, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and Hua Hong Semiconductor, expect their second-quarter sales to rise amid a dynamic global market defined by surging artificial intelligence demand and a memory supply crunch, while Hua Hong said it hopes this week’s Xi-Trump meetings could help relax US export controls.
SMIC expected its second-quarter revenue to range between US$2.86 billion and US$2.91 billion, up from US$2.51 billion in the first quarter. Its smaller rival Hua Hong said second-quarter revenue was likely to range between US$690 million and US$700 million, compared with US$661 million in the prior quarter.
“We are more optimistic about our full-year operations than we were last quarter, based on customer demand and orders on hand, and will remain flexible in allocating resources to ensure high-quality delivery in a complex environment,” SMIC said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday.
Separately on Thursday, Bai Peng, Hua Hong’s chairman and president, downplayed the impact of US export controls on the company’s capacity expansion plans.
Bai said the company currently “does not see any impact” from US export controls on equipment procurement for Fab 9B, its new fab in eastern Jiangsu province, which began construction in March.
Reuters reported in April that Washington had asked multiple chip equipment companies to halt certain tool shipments to Hua Hong.
