China Builds EUV Prototype Machine To Challenge Western Advanced Chipmaking Dominance

China has completed a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine in a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, marking a major milestone in its drive for semiconductor independence through a state-led 'Manhattan Project-style' initiative.

The machine, operational since early 2025 and now undergoing testing, was built by a team of former ASML(Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) Holding engineers like Lin Nan, who filed key patents. They reverse-engineered the Dutch company’s technology, using parts from older ASML systems and secondary markets to circumvent Western export controls.

While the prototype successfully generates EUV light, it has not yet produced functional chips, with analysts estimating a realistic timeline for working chip production between 2030 and 2035, despite an official government target of 2028.

The project, launched as a six-year national effort under President Xi Jinping’s strategic priorities, is coordinated by Huawei and overseen by Ding Xuexiang, a close confidant of Xi and head of the Central Science and Technology Commission.

Former ASML engineers were recruited with substantial incentives, including signing bonuses of up to $700,000, and worked under aliases with false identification cards to maintain secrecy.

The prototype occupies nearly an entire factory floor and is operated within a highly isolated, secure compound where staff often sleep on-site, with strict communication restrictions and surveillance.

Despite ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet’s public statements in 2024 and 2025 that China would need "many, many years" to develop EUV capability, the existence of the prototype suggests Beijing’s timeline may be accelerating significantly.

While the Chinese machine’s light generation is confirmed, major technical hurdles remain, particularly in replicating the precision optical systems—such as specialized mirrors from Germany’s Zeiss—that are critical for high-volume, reliable chip manufacturing.

The breakthrough challenges long-standing U.S.-led export controls that have barred China from acquiring advanced EUV systems since 2018, with the Biden administration expanding restrictions in 2022.

The ultimate goal, as stated by sources, is to produce advanced chips on entirely China-made machines and to fully remove U.S. influence from its semiconductor supply chains.

Advanced chip manufacturing machine generates extreme ultraviolet light to etch tiny circuits for AI, smartphones, and military systems—tech once monopolized by ASML.