Chinese PCB Firms Ramp Up Investment in High-End Production Amid Global Industry Transformation

SHENZHEN, April 10 – The global printed circuit board (PCB) industry is undergoing profound structural changes, with growth in traditional low-end products slowing down while high-end products such as high-density interconnection (HDI) boards and high-multilayer boards have become the core drivers of industry growth, according to Securities Daily.

On April 9, Sihui Fushi Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. announced a new investment plan to build high-end PCB production capacity. In addition, several other Chinese PCB enterprises, including Shenghong Technology (Huizhou) Co., Ltd., Unimicron Technology Co., Ltd. and(Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (PCE), have recently disclosed large-scale investment plans or annual investment layouts, reflecting a strong momentum in upgrading product structures.

Zheng Lei, Chief Economist at Samoyed Cloud Technology Group, stated in an interview with Securities Daily that keeping pace with industrial transformation and upgrading and optimizing product structure are key measures for PCB enterprises to gain a foothold in the new round of industrial upgrading. “Listed A-share companies in the industry are leveraging their advantages to increase investment in technological innovation and high-end production capacity layout, which will accelerate industrial upgrading and enhance the global status of China’s PCB industry,” he added.

Specifically, Sihui Fushi released a prospectus for a private placement of A-shares in 2026 on April 9, planning to raise a total of no more than 950 million yuan (inclusive). After deducting relevant issuance fees, the net proceeds will be fully invested in the new project of annual output of 5.58 million square meters of high-reliability circuit boards – the first phase of the 600,000 square meters high-multilayer and HDI circuit board project.

A relevant person in charge of Sihui Fushi told Securities Daily that to become a core supplier in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, the company needs large-scale high-end production capacity and certified stable process capabilities. “Our current production capacity mainly meets the needs of samples and small batches. The raised capital project will enhance our ability to produce large batches of high-multilayer boards and HDI boards, which is crucial for us to become a core supplier in the AI field,” the person added, noting that the project is expected to further consolidate the foundation for the company’s future development.

Other PCB enterprises are also accelerating their layout of high-end production capacity. On April 2, Unimicron Technology announced plans to invest about 6.8 billion yuan in building a PCB production project and its supporting facilities. As early as March this year, the company disclosed that it had approved its wholly-owned subsidiary Kunshan Huli Microelectronics Co., Ltd. to invest in a new PCB production project, which will produce high-layer, high-frequency and high-speed, high-density interconnection and high-current PCB boards with a total investment of about 5.5 billion yuan.

PCE has also launched an ambitious investment plan. In March this year, it disclosed that it had agreed to its wholly-owned subsidiary Chingting Precision Electronics (Huai’an) Co., Ltd. to sign a project investment agreement with the Management Committee of Huai’an Economic and Technological Development Zone, planning to invest 11 billion yuan in building a high-end PCB production base. PCE’s investment plan in its Thailand park is also progressing simultaneously.

In addition, Shenghong Technology has planned a fixed-asset investment of no more than 18 billion yuan this year, including new plant and engineering construction, equipment purchase, and automated production line transformation and upgrading, to support its goal of achieving 100 billion yuan in output value by 2030.

The surging market demand for high-end PCB products stems from the accelerated evolution of global AI technology, as AI servers, high-performance computing and network communication equipment enter a new cycle. A relevant person in charge of Shenghong Technology said that with the continuous upgrading of signal transmission bandwidth and the improvement of material grades, the layers and orders of high-multilayer boards and high-end HDI boards are increasing, which will further consume high-end production capacity.

Data from market research firm Prismark shows that the output value of high-multilayer boards and high-density interconnection boards increased by 18.2% and 25.6% year-on-year respectively in 2025, making them the fastest-growing segments in the PCB industry. It is estimated that the compound annual growth rates of high-multilayer boards and high-density interconnection boards will reach 9.0% and 11.2% respectively from 2024 to 2029.

Fu Yifu, Special Researcher at Suzhou Commercial Bank, stated in an interview with Securities Daily that the layout of high-end production capacity has become the core “key to success” in enterprise competition. “Technological barriers, customer certification and global production capacity will gradually widen the gap between enterprises, and those with high-speed materials, precision processes and batch delivery capabilities will be more likely to enter the global computing power and consumer electronics supply chains,” he said.

Chinese PCB enterprises’ intensive investment in high-end production capacity not only responds to the global industrial transformation trend but also reflects China’s strength in the electronic manufacturing sector. These moves are helping China consolidate its position as a global leader in the PCB industry, driving the high-quality development of the entire industrial chain.