China shows near-enthusiastic encouragement as ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), its largest DRAM manufacturer, rises to the top spot in market capitalization on its first day of listing. The atmosphere appears ripe with confidence that it will soon catch up with South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

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An event celebrating ChangXin Memory Technologies' historic listing was held on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market on July 27. As expected, ChangXin Memory instantly claimed the top spot in market capitalization on the A-share market. / People's Daily

In fact, the industry evaluates ChangXin Memory's listing success as an achievement for the entire Chinese semiconductor industry, with growing expectations that the funds raised through the initial public offering (IPO) will be channeled into upgrading production lines to disrupt the global "big three structure" of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron.

Media reports also reflect an extraordinary atmosphere. First, the Global Times, an English-language affiliate of the party organ People's Daily, assessed on July 28, "Market response to ChangXin Memory's listing demonstrates growing investor confidence in the semiconductor industry's potential as China accelerates efforts to achieve technological self-reliance."

This mood is clearly reflected in the fact that ChangXin Memory, which listed on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange the previous day, closed at 49 yuan, up 465.82% from its offer price of 8.66 yuan. Its resulting market capitalization was equally staggering. At 3.28 trillion yuan, it easily surpassed the 2.76 trillion yuan of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the previous top A-share company by market capitalization.

Unfortunately, this momentum slowed slightly on July 28, the second day of trading. The closing price fell to 47 yuan, with market capitalization shrinking to 3.14 trillion yuan. Nevertheless, it firmly maintained its position as the top A-share company by market capitalization. According to sources, ChangXin Memory plans to allocate the funds raised through the IPO toward upgrading memory wafer manufacturing lines, DRAM research and development, and next-generation memory technology research.

Reflecting industry expectations, the Global Times further noted that Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron have led the global memory semiconductor market, explaining, "In recent years, Chinese companies have strengthened their capabilities across memory, wafer manufacturing, and semiconductor equipment."

Global Times' Chinese-language edition, Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao), also hailed ChangXin Memory's successful listing in a commentary as a historic day for China's capital market, adding, "Memory semiconductors are the 'rice' of the digital era, and ChangXin Memory achieved independent mass production of DRAM, breaking the long-standing monopoly of foreign companies."

Furthermore, it explained, "The performance demonstrated by ChangXin Memory in the capital market is a symbolic microcosm of China achieving a breakthrough in advanced semiconductor manufacturing," adding, "In the past, the DRAM market was monopolized by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. But now, ChangXin Memory has become the fourth company in the world to possess complete self-development and production capabilities for DRAM." High praise claiming "ChangXin Memory created something out of nothing in 10 years" is by no means unfounded.

At the same time, Global Times did not forget to argue, "Memory semiconductors are highly cyclical. Whether the price and demand driven by the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom can persist remains to be seen. Therefore, we must stay alert." It also cautioned against mental laxity that strong confidence might bring, noting, "There is still a gap of about two to three years with South Korean and U.S. giants in advanced processes. There are also external restrictions in the equipment field."

                                                                                                           Hong Soon-do