RISC-V and China's Full Throttle

As the Chinese govt plans to promote nationwide use of open-source RISC-V integrated circuit design standards under new guidelines, the move is set to give a big push forward to a trend that has been gathering pace for several years now

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

RISC-V architecture is an open, international standard governing how software interfaces with hardware in a computer. It serves as a shared language that sets the parameters for communication and interoperability. Open standards provide a means for industry participants to collaborate and develop technological solutions that can help accelerate innovation and limit misuse of intellectual property (IP).

With its rapidly expanding global footprint, China is emerging as a significant force in its development and adoption. The upcoming RISC-V Summit China 2025 in Shanghai underscores the nation's burgeoning contributions to the ecosystem.

In China, state entities and research institutes have eagerly embraced RISC-V in recent years, seeing it as geopolitically neutral. Chinese chip designers are attracted by its lower costs, but the government has yet to mention it in policy.

Its widening use in the country has been greeted warily in the United States, as friction between Washington and Beijing intensifies—especially over technology.

In seeking greater technological autonomy and self-sufficiency, China is looking to RISC-V as an alternative to licensing IP blocks from Western firms such as Intel and Arm. As one Chinese media article puts it: "You cannot build a house on someone else's foundation."

Reflecting a longstanding commitment to reducing dependence on US technology, the Chinese government is incentivizing the use of RISC-V architecture in chip design, primarily among firms based in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and more recently in Wuhan.

The RISC-V Industry Alliance convened local startups in a collaboration that had grown to 173 companies by mid-2023.