Tsinghua Unigroup, a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings, started construction on its new semiconductor industrial base in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on Feb 12.

  Tsinghua Unigroup starts construction on its semiconductor base in Nanjing on Feb 12.

The project is expected to receive $30 billion of investment and represents another big move by Tsinghua Unigroup, after the world's third largest cell phone chip manufacturer invested in a national memorizer base project in Wuhan, Hubei province in 2016.

The 100-hectare semiconductor base in Nanjing will mainly produce 3D-NAND flash, an emerging technology offering a high storage capacity, and DRAM memory chips which are widely used in digital electronics.

The first phase of the project will require an estimated $10 billion of investment and will be able to produce 100,000 chips per month. 

Semiconductors are one of the key technologies in the IT industry, and are also seen as a crucial strategic industry by China's central government. The Made in China 2025 plan, the government's development roadmap for the country's manufacturing sector, singles out semiconductors as a high-priority focus for Chinese research and development.

"Our company has shouldered the mission to drive development and new breakthroughs in China's semiconductor industry," said Zhao Weiguo, chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup.

Tsinghua Unigroup's big investment in semiconductors is also expected to have positive effects on cutting-edge technology development in Nanjing, attracting more talent to the city and boosting the competitiveness of local industry.

Tsinghua Unigroup also plans to invest 30 billion yuan ($4.35 billion) in an integrated circuit (IC) international city in Nanjing, construction on which also started on Sunday. The international city will house a range of supporting facilities for chip manufacturers, including a technology park, a design and packaging industrial base, an international school, businesses, and high-end residential apartments.