Semiconductor lithography machine giant, leaving or staying?

According to foreign media reports, in order to retain the lithography equipment giant ASML to continue its development in the Netherlands, the Dutch government plans to inject at least 1 billion euros in funding into ASML.

At the beginning of this month, the local Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf revealed that ASML plans to relocate the company out of the Netherlands. The report pointed out that ASML has expressed its intention to the Dutch government, stating that it may expand or relocate to other places, with France being one of the options.

According to the Dutch news agency, the Dutch government has set up a special task force called the "Beethoven Action", led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, aimed at negotiating with ASML to address its concerns about local labor supply, regulatory policies, and supply chain security in the Netherlands.

The latest news indicates that the Dutch government plans to allocate over 1 billion euros (approximately 7.8 billion yuan) for the development of ASML's headquarters, including infrastructure investment, housing, and expansion of Eindhoven University of Technology, particularly to cultivate skilled technical personnel for ASML.

According to data, ASML is the world's largest manufacturer of lithography equipment and has absolute dominance in this field. Its development in the Chinese market has exceeded 30 years.

On March 27th, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with visiting Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Van Luven. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on topics such as the export of lithography machines to China and strengthening cooperation in the semiconductor industry.

Wang Wentao expressed the hope that the Dutch side will uphold the spirit of the contract, support enterprises in fulfilling their contractual obligations, and ensure the normal operation of lithography machine trade. To prevent the generalization of security, jointly maintain the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain, and promote the sustained and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations. Van Luven also stated that China is one of the most important economic and trade partners of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands is willing to continue to be a reliable partner for China. The export controls in the Netherlands are not targeted at any country, and decisions are made based on independent assessments, while minimizing the impact on the global semiconductor supply chain under the premise of safety and controllability.