TSMC Chair Wei Zhejia is reported to be planning a visit to China on the 4th. As U.S. semiconductor restrictions on China intensify, attention is focused on the TSMC chair personally traveling to China.
According to Taiwan's Economic Daily on the 2nd, Chair Wei will attend the TSMC OIP (Open Innovation Platform) ecosystem forum in Nanjing, China, on the 4th. It is said to be the first visit to China in two and a half years since attending the TSMC Technology Forum in Shanghai in 2023. Wei will be accompanied by two vice presidents on the China trip and is also reported to be visiting mainland China fabless (semiconductor design) customers such as Alibaba.
This year's TSMC OIP events began in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley, in the United States in September and were held in succession in Tokyo, Japan; Hsinchu, Taiwan; and Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the final forum scheduled at the Shangri-La Hotel in Nanjing on the 4th.
The Economic Daily reported, "Despite the truce in the U.S.-China trade war, this visit is taking place as the two countries continue to vie for influence in various fields such as the economy and science and technology," and noted, "There is also speculation that TSMC is seeking to establish a new plant on the Chinese mainland."