China's largest and most influential gathering of integrated circuit (IC) design specialists, the CSIA-ICCAD Annual Conference, will move from Beijing this year to Zhuhai in 2018. 

A Zhuhai Science, Industry & Information Technology Bureau delegation headed by vice mayor Lu Xiaofeng had gone to Beijing to bid for the event prior to the Nov 16-17 gathering. Among the 32-member group were representatives of the Zhuhai Software Industry Association IC Design Branch, Zhuhai South IC Design Service Center, incubation industrial parks, and related enterprises.

He Jun, director of the bureau, made the presentation at the board meeting of the China Semiconductor Industry Association IC Design Branch. The vote to approve Zhuhai was unanimous.

Spoken highly of were Zhuhai's industrial foundation, environment, and meeting conditions. A commitment letter and memorandum of cooperation were signed during the meeting. The show is expected to further publicize the city's advances in innovation-driven development.

CSIA-ICCAD 2017 Annual Conference  [Photo courtesy bianliit.com]

According to He, Zhuhai has always attached great importance to IC design. With 55 relevant enterprises in the city, the annual revenue of the local IC industry will rise by 66.67 percent year-on-year to 4.6 billion yuan ($698 million) in 2017. Of the total, IC design business will contribute 4 billion yuan ($607 million), up 48 percent year-on-year.

Zhuhai's Apex Microelectronics and Allwinner Technology have been recognized as key IC design enterprises in the State plan. Apex is also listed in the Major National Science & Technology Projects along with Actions Technology, also of Zhuhai.

The Pearl River Delta is a key area for IC design, with industrial scale estimated to increase by 38.61 percent to 68.75 billion yuan ($10.4 billion) in 2017 -- leading the country. Zhuhai came in 9th among the top 10 cities with the largest IC design scale, one notch higher than last year, said Wei Shaojun, chairman of China Semiconductor Industry Association IC Design Branch.

As the core of information technology, IC is a strategic, fundamental, and pioneering industry that impels economic and social development and ensures national security, Wei asserted.

Chen Jinge, the secretary general of the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA), had said earlier that since 1995 the Annual Conference of Integrated Circuit Computer Auxiliary Design (ICCAD) has become most influential in the integrated circuit (IC) industry.