Today, October 15, a subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturer of semiconductor equipment SiCarrier launched two domestically developed electronic design automation software products. This is a significant step in China’s effort to become technology independent.
At the three-day WeSemiBay Semiconductor Ecosystem Expo 2025 in Shenzhen, Qiyunfang, the SiCarrier unit, introduced the tools—one for schematic capture and one for printed circuit board design—to the public.
The new EDA products are compatible with a wide range of domestic operating systems, databases, and middleware platforms and have fully independent intellectual property rights.
Over 20,000 engineers have already used the software, highlighting the growing demand for Chinese-made chip design tools in China. In this market, which is currently dominated by foreign suppliers Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, and Siemens EDA, EDA software is essential for designing blueprints of sophisticated semiconductors.
In the midst of Beijing’s push for self-sufficiency in critical technologies, SiCarrier, which is supported by the Shenzhen municipal government and collaborates closely with Huawei Technologies, has gained prominence in China’s semiconductor industry.
In December 2024, the company was added to the US export control list for its alleged ties to Huawei, which has publicly denied any formal connection to the equipment manufacturer.
The launch of the software comes as President Trump of the United States of America has threatened to impose export controls on essential software and an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports.
In response to China’s suspension of exports of rare earths and related magnets, the United States temporarily restricted chip design software developers’ exports to China earlier this year. China’s chip design industry, which continues to lag behind the United States in this area of development, had been warned that long-term US restrictions on EDA software could severely hinder it.