BEIJING/HONG KONG: China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. plans to invest 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) over the next five years in a bid to become the world’s third-biggest chipmaker, the chairman of the state-backed technology conglomerate said.
Chairman Zhao Weiguo also said in an interview in Beijing that the company controlled by Tsinghua University, which counts President Xi Jinping among its alumni, was in talks with a US-based company involved in the chip industry.
A deal could be finalized as early as the end of this month, he said. He declined to give more details but said buying a majority stake was unlikely as it was too “sensitive” for the US government.
“If you can’t be the top-three giant, it will be very hard to develop your business in the chip industry,” Zhao said, citing reports that China imported more chips than crude oil every year.
“The next five years is key... There is an enormous market out there.”
Currently, Qualcomm Inc. holds the No.3 position in the global chip rankings, behind Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and market leader Intel Corp, which has a market capitalization of $151.5 billion.
The sheer size of Tsinghua Unigroup’s planned investments is almost equal to Intel’s $50 billion chip revenue last year and could disrupt the NAND chip industry. The top five chipmakers control more than 90 percent of the global NAND chip market after years of boom-and-bust squeezed out smaller players.
Tsinghua Unigroup’s investment drive comes after a two-year deal-making campaign to bolster China’s fledgling chip industry, seen as a strategic priority for the Chinese government.
Beijing is keen to end China’s reliance on foreign semiconductors as it seeks to build a modern, digitised armed forces capable of matching other advanced militaries.
It has also attached strategic importance to the development of domestic semiconductor, server and networking equipment industries amid fears of foreign cyberspying.
Tsinghua Unigroup has spent more than $9.4 billion making acquisitions and investments at home and abroad over the past two years, including the purchase of stakes in US data storage company Western Digital Corp. and Taiwan’s Powertech Technology Inc.
In August, it made an informal $23 billion takeover offer for US giant Micron Technology Inc. that was rejected out-of-hand by the Idaho-based chipmaker amid concerns a deal might endanger national security.
Tsinghua’s failed bid to buy Micron suggests it is serious about expanding in NAND chips, used for storing music, pictures and other data on mobile devices.
The global chip market was worth $355 billion last year, according to research firm IHS Technology.
Tsinghua Unigroup, which had revenue last year of about 12.3 billion yuan, was also in talks about cooperating with a “world-class memory chip giant” to build a new chip factory in China, Zhao said, a move that could help his company acquire intellectual property needed to manufacture memory chips.
The 90-billion-yuan factory would help meet fast-growing demand of NAND memory chips.
“We don’t have plans for DRAM at the moment,” Zhao said, referring to dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips that are used mostly in personal computers.
“We need to take one step at a time.”
The company was also suspending plans to invest in Taiwanese tech firms due to regulatory hurdles, after agreeing to take a stake in Powertech Technology Inc. and expressing interest in more cross-strait deals.
Industry analysts had expected Tsinghua Unigroup to make further investment in Taiwan, sparking fears on the island that its chip sector may fall prey to China’s state-backed drive to become a world-class player.
“The regulations do not allow it, so what’s the point of talking (to Taiwanese firms)?” Zhao said, adding that Tsinghua Unigroup was focused on investing in the US.
Tsinghua Unigroup to invest $47bn to build chip empire
Tsinghua Unigroup to invest $47bn to build chip empire
Over 3k flights cancelled across the Middle East after attack on Iran by the US, Israel
RIYADH: US and Israeli strikes on Iran led to widespread airspace shutdowns in the Middle East, canceling and rerouting thousands of flights and paralyzing key international travel corridors.
Flight cancellations affected seven airports across the Middle East, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain.
Emirates Airlines said in a statement: “Due to multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai, up until 1500 hrs UAE time on Monday, 2 March.”
A flydubai spokesperson said the situation is evolving, and the airline is closely monitoring developments while coordinating with authorities to adjust its flight schedule.
“Our teams are working diligently to implement comprehensive welfare for all affected customers. The safety of our passengers and crew remains our highest priority,” the spokesperson said.
He added: “We are currently experiencing a high volume of calls and appreciate our customers’ patience while our teams work to assist everyone as quickly as possible.”
Qatar Airways announced that the airport will remain closed until at least the morning of March 2.
“Qatar Airways flights to, and from, Doha have been temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace,” the airline said.
It added: “Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace.”
Saudia also said in an official statement that it had canceled a number of flights due to developments in the region and the closure of airspace.
The organization said the decision was taken in line with aviation safety and security standards, noting that its Emergency Coordination Center is closely monitoring developments with relevant authorities.
Saudia urged passengers to verify the status of their flights before heading to the airport and said guests would be notified of updates through the contact details associated with their bookings.
The carrier added that further information would be announced in a subsequent statement if available.
Air Arabia also said its flights were experiencing cancellations, delays, or rerouting as a result of the evolving situation and airspace closures.
Airlines cited airspace closures and safety concerns as the main reasons for flight disruptions, urging passengers to check official channels for updates as the situation develops.
Israeli airspace also remained closed on March 1st. Israeli airline El Al said it was preparing a recovery effort to bring home Israelis stranded abroad once the airspace reopened.
Travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports on Feb. 28 after Israel, Qatar, Syria, and Iran as well as Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain, closed their airspace.
After the UAE announced a temporary partial airspace closure, FlightRadar24 recorded no flights over the country.
The closures affected key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad, airlines that operate from these hubs, normally handle around 90,000 passengers daily, with even more traveling to other Middle Eastern destinations, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Airports hit by attacks
Two airports in the UAE reported incidents as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Feb.28.
Dubai International Airport, the UAE’s largest and one of the world’s busiest, reported four injuries, while Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport said a drone attack killed one person and injured seven others. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.
Though Iran did not publicly claim responsibility, the scope of retaliatory strikes that Gulf nations attributed to Iran extended beyond the US bases that it previously said it would target.
Flight delays, cancellations are likely to continue
“For travelers, there’s no way to sugarcoat this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group.
“You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end,” he added.
To avoid conflict zones, airlines are rerouting Middle East flights over Saudi Arabia, adding hours and fuel costs, which could push ticket prices higher if the tensions persist.
The extra flights will strain air traffic controllers in the Kingdom, who may need to slow traffic for safety. Meanwhile, countries that closed their airspace will lose out on overflight fees from passing airlines.
Mike McCormick, former head of air traffic control at the FAA and now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said some countries may reopen parts of their airspace in the coming days once US and Israeli officials provide airlines with details on military flight zones and Iran’s missile capabilities.
“Those countries then will be able to go through and say, ok, we can reopen this portion of our space but we’ll keep this portion of our airspace closed,” McCormick said.
“So, I think what we’ll see in the next 24 to 36 hours is how the use of airspace evolves as the kinetic activity gets more well-defined and as the capability of Iran to actually shoot missiles and create additional risk is diminished due to the attacks,” he added.
But it is unclear how long the disruption to flight operations could last. For comparison, the Israeli and US attack on Iran in June 2025 lasted 12 days.
