A former executive of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), the largest chip foundry in China, has reportedly joined ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), the country's leading memory chip maker, to lead research and development.  

SMIC Veteran Reportedly Joins CXMT

Citing media outlet DigiTimes in Taiwan, the South China Morning Post reported that Zhou Meisheng, who previously held the position of executive vice president of R&D at SMIC and served as a key aide to co-chief executive Liang Mong-song, was appointed to lead the R&D center of CXMT.

Zhou, 66, retired from SMIC in 2022 after a five-year tenure. Before joining SMIC, she served as the chief technology officer at the China arm of US chip giant Lam Research and worked at Singaporean foundry Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Records from previous SMIC filings show that Zhou, who has Singaporean citizenship, is a 1985 graduate of Fudan University in Shanghai and obtained her doctoral degree in chemistry from Princeton University in 1990. 

CXMT has yet to comment on Zhou's reported appointment. But if true, it would boost the company's efforts to make further breakthroughs.

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CXMT Blacklisted by the US Government?

CXMT is among those companies subject to broad US export restrictions targeting China, but the US government does not explicitly blacklist it. CXMT, like other Chinese tech entities, could be added to the US Commerce Department's Entity List.  

Industry experts see CXMT as China's best chance to compete with established memory chip giants like Samsung and SK Hynix and US-based Micron Technology in the global DRAM market.

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