【Domestic News】2026 Sinan Cup Fourth-Generation Semiconductor Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Opens in Lingang, Driving Future Industry Development

      On July 30, the finals of the 2026 Sinan Cup Fourth-Generation Semiconductor Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off in the Lingang Special Area. Twelve outstanding project teams representing China’s cutting-edge research and core technical strengths in fourth-generation semiconductors competed in the finals across three frontier tracks: gallium oxide, diamond and aluminum nitride.

      Fourth-generation semiconductors, represented by gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃), diamond and aluminum nitride (AlN), constitute strategic technologies that will revolutionize next-generation power devices, radio frequency communications and deep ultraviolet detection. They have become the core cornerstone underpinning the upgrading of future industries including new energy vehicles, next-generation mobile communications and artificial intelligence. At present, China’s 15th Five-Year Plan has explicitly incorporated fourth-generation semiconductors into the development layout system for fostering emerging industries and new technological tracks. Shanghai has taken the lead in designating fourth-generation semiconductors as a priority sector for future industrial cultivation, and launched the construction of a future industrial cluster for fourth-generation semiconductors in the Lingang Special Area.

      At present, over half of China’s fourth-generation semiconductor enterprises are based in Shanghai, and the Lingang Special Area hosts more than half of Shanghai’s related firms, with initial industrial agglomeration effects taking shape. The Lingang Special Area is fully committed to building a full-chain cultivation system covering basic research, key technology breakthroughs, concept verification, engineering verification, scenario demonstration and large-scale commercial application, to fully unclog the critical pathway translating original innovation into industrialization.

      Guided by the philosophy of "boosting innovation through competitions", the event facilitates efficient matching between technological R&D, scenario-based applications and industrial resources. At the finals, the 12 shortlisted teams delivered project roadshows. Their achievements covered a full spectrum: laser lift-off processes and heterogeneous integration technologies that tackle core manufacturing bottlenecks; diamond radiation detectors, aluminum nitride RF filters and miniature isotope power sources serving strategic scenarios such as deep space and deep-sea exploration, new energy and next-generation communications; as well as original research breakthroughs in fundamental materials including quantum diamond and large-size AlN substrates. These outcomes fully demonstrate the solid progress of China’s fourth-generation semiconductor industry.

      Moving forward, the competition organizing committee and the Lingang Special Area will roll out comprehensive cultivation support, matching high-quality projects with targeted industrial policies, incubation spaces and investment and financing resources, to accelerate the commercialization of hard technological achievements from the "competition arena" to the market.

      Yu Jinxu, Deputy Director of the Information Division of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, stated that the fourth-generation semiconductor industry is currently in a critical stage of transition from laboratory research to engineering application. The commission will join hands with the Lingang Special Area to ramp up support for winning teams in the next phase.

      Specifically, four major support measures will be implemented. First, scale up research support to carry out full-chain R&D breakthroughs covering "materials, devices, processes and applications" centered on priority technological tracks. Second, reinforce platform support, relying on municipal key laboratories, concept verification platforms and high-quality incubators to smooth the channels for engineering verification and technology transfer. Third, amplify financial empowerment through funds, collaborating with future industrial funds to build a dedicated fund matrix for fourth-generation semiconductors. Fourth, strengthen cluster support to accelerate demonstration of innovative applications of landmark technological achievements in scenarios such as intelligent connected vehicles.

      During the subsequent promotion session, Liu Guoshun, Deputy Director of the High-Tech Division of the Lingang Special Area Administrative Committee, noted that the special area is leveraging coordinated support from innovation platforms, the Sinan Semiconductor Super Incubator, future industrial funds and startup policies to build an agglomerated industrial ecosystem for fourth-generation semiconductors spanning material epitaxy, device R&D and module integration. Meanwhile, it provides full-lifecycle services integrating "space, policies, capital and application scenarios" for startup teams, and continuously fosters an innovation ecosystem that attracts talents and enterprises from near and far.

      Going forward, the Lingang Special Area will continue to leverage its dual strengths in institutional innovation and industrial agglomeration. It will partner with top global teams to jointly build a new highland for the fourth-generation semiconductor industry rooted in Shanghai, covering the whole country and connecting to the global market, contributing Lingang’s strength to China’s bid to seize the commanding heights of future technological competition.