(Yicai Global) Sept. 19 -- China's semiconductor sector is expected to enter a period of stabilization over the next five years and the country could become one of the world's biggest players within ten years, according to the head of the largest state-owned Chinese chipmaker.

China may become a top-four player in terms of integrated circuit production inside ten years, Tsinghua Unigroup Chairman Zhao Weiguo said at the 2018 China IC Summit held in Nanjing in eastern Jiangsu province on Sept. 19

Zhao said that China's semiconductor manufacturing has developed rapidly in recent years, especially in terms of mobile and internet of things chips. The arrival of 5G will bring great opportunities for the development of China's IC, he said, adding that possible challenges may arise from weak foundations and fierce competition in the market, as well as protectionist policies from abroad.

Much of China's IC manufacturing still lags behind that of Europe and the US, with around 90 percent of the country's players in the sector loss-making, he added.

The value of output in the domestic sector hit USD410 billion last year while imports in the sector reached USD 270 billion, Zhao added. This year's homegrown output value is expected to rise to between USD450 billion and 470billion, while that of imports will edge up to between USD280 and 290 billion, dependent on the trade tensions between the US and China.

Set up in 1988, Tsinghua Unigroup is a high-tech enterprise affiliated with Tsinghua University, one of the country's big two universities. The firm is the world's third-largest mobile chip makers. The company has invested USD100 billion in chip manufacturing and runs multiple plants across the country including in the cities of Wuhan, Nanjing and Chengdu.

Editor: William Clegg