China’s Secret Push to Build Its Own EUV Chip Machines

In a highly secure laboratory in Shenzhen, Chinese scientists have quietly pulled off a breakthrough that Washington has spent years trying to stop. They have built a working prototype of an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine. This highly complex piece of equipment is essential to producing the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips and is among the most challenging technologies to master. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what this development means and why it matters.

China's Own EUV Chip Machines Overview:

A Quiet Breakthrough in Shenzhen

According to Reuters, China completed construction of this prototype in early 2025 and is now testing it. The prototype is enormous, taking up almost an entire factory floor. While it has not yet produced working chips, it can generate EUV light. That alone is a significant breakthrough and shows that China is much closer to chip self-reliance than many experts previously believed.

Significance of EUV

In case you didn't know, EUV lithography machines are central to modern chip production. They utilize beams of extreme ultraviolet light to carve circuits thousands of times thinner than a human hair onto silicon wafers. These machines are crucial for creating cutting-edge chips used in AI, smartphones, and advanced weapons.

Until now, only the Dutch company ASML has mastered this technology. Its machines, each costing around $250 million, are essential for chipmakers such as TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. No EUV machines have ever been legally sold to China.

A "Manhattan Project” for Chips

China’s EUV project is part of a six-year government plan to achieve semiconductor independence, a key goal for President Xi Jinping. Led by top officials and coordinated by Huawei, it covers chip design, manufacturing equipment, and finished products.

People call it China’s “Manhattan Project” for semiconductors, a massive, secret effort with thousands of engineers working in small, tightly controlled teams. Many Huawei engineers work on-site with limited phone access and little knowledge of other teams’ work, according to Reuters.

Building Despite Sanctions

As we all know, there are U.S. sanctions on China and on Chinese tech overall. U.S. export controls, first tightened in 2018 and expanded in 2022, were designed to keep China at least one generation behind in advanced chipmaking. These rules have slowed China’s progress but have not stopped it, it seems.

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So, how did China manage to pull this move? The answer is for the EUV prototype; Chinese researchers sourced parts from older ASML machines on the secondary market, often through intermediaries. They have reportedly used components from Japanese companies such as Nikon and Canon, which are subject to export controls.

China's Own EUV Chip Machines: Conclusion

In summary, China’s EUV machines still lag behind ASML’s commercial systems. They are larger and less refined, and they face precision-optics challenges. While it can generate EUV light, it still requires further development to produce chips reliably. Experts say the government’s goal is to have functional chips by 2028, but 2030 is more likely. 

If successful, China could weaken U.S. and allied control over advanced chips and reduce the impact of sanctions. The working prototype indicates the gap is closing faster than expected, suggesting a more competitive and uncertain global semiconductor race.

• Meanwhile, you can check our Huawei Mate 70 Pro+ review.