China Set to Unveil Strategy to Drive Widespread Adoption of RISC-V Chips, Sources Confirm

China is set to issue policy guidance aimed at encouraging the nationwide adoption of open-source RISC-V chips, a move designed to reduce the country’s reliance on Western-owned technology, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The policy is expected to be unveiled as early as this month, though the exact date may change.

The draft guidance is being developed by a coalition of eight government bodies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration. These agencies are collaborating on the policy in response to growing concerns over the nation's dependence on foreign chip technologies.

RISC-V is an open-source chip architecture used to design a wide range of processors, from those in smartphones to central processing units (CPUs) for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. It competes globally with other proprietary chip architectures, such as x86, which is dominated by U.S. firms Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as well as ARM, which is owned by SoftBank Group.

In recent years, RISC-V has gained traction in China, particularly among state entities and research institutes. This is due in part to the technology's geopolitical neutrality, as it is not controlled by any single nation, and its lower cost compared to proprietary alternatives. However, until now, the Chinese government has not yet incorporated RISC-V into its official policy framework.

The growing adoption of RISC-V in China has raised concerns in the United States, especially as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate, particularly in the realm of technology. In 2023, Reuters reported that U.S. lawmakers were pushing the Biden administration to restrict American companies from collaborating on RISC-V technology, fearing that China could leverage its open-source nature to advance its semiconductor industry.

Key players in China's RISC-V ecosystem include Alibaba’s XuanTie and the startup Nuclei System Technology, both of which provide intellectual property for RISC-V processors. These companies offer commercial RISC-V chips to Chinese chip designers, further driving the technology’s proliferation in the country.

Industry experts are also optimistic about the role of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in promoting RISC-V adoption. DeepSeek’s models are designed to run efficiently on less-powerful chips, which could make RISC-V-based processors an attractive option for companies looking to deploy AI technology at lower costs. During an event focused on RISC-V, Sun Haitao, a manager at China Mobile System Integration, explained that smaller companies could save significantly by using RISC-V chips. He suggested that while a RISC-V solution priced at 10 million yuan might only perform at about 30% of the capability of more powerful chips from companies like NVIDIA or Huawei, purchasing multiple units could still result in a lower overall cost.

As China continues to push for technological independence, the government’s support for RISC-V could mark a significant step in reshaping the global semiconductor landscape and reducing the country’s reliance on foreign technology.