On September 15, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry (MIIT Joint Regulation [2026] No. 216, dated September 10, 2026). Anchored on the goal of basically realizing new-type industrialization, the plan proposes that by 2030, the operating revenue of electronic information manufacturing enterprises above designated size in China will exceed CNY 30 trillion, and the R&D investment intensity of the industry will reach 3.5%.
Following the strategic approach of 'building foundations, improving quality, fostering new growth, and enhancing governance,' the full text deploys 17 tasks and 9 special columns. It emphasizes scenario and demand orientation, and adopts measures such as integrated research, domestic substitution, and ecosystem building to address weaknesses, forge strengths, and consolidate foundations.
Among the numerous highlights, one statement deserves special attention: 'Promote the quality improvement and upgrading of the wide bandgap semiconductor industry, and advance the industrialization of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors such as gallium oxide and diamond.'
This marks the first time diamond has been included in a national five-year plan for the electronic information manufacturing industry. A traditional industrial material long classified as an 'ultra-hard material' has officially entered the core sequence of the national semiconductor industry strategy.
01. Full Picture of the Plan: A Five-Year Blueprint of CNY 30 Trillion
Characterized by its large scale, long industrial chain, and active innovation, the electronic information manufacturing industry serves as a pillar of the national economy and a crucial force for realizing new-type industrialization. Formulated based on the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the core objectives of this plan can be summarized as 'one total volume, one intensity, and a batch of long-board technologies':
Total Volume: By 2030, the operating revenue of enterprises above designated size will exceed CNY 30 trillion, playing a pivotal role in the global industrial landscape;
Intensity: R&D investment intensity will reach 3.5%, with a significant increase in areas where China leads or runs alongside global peers;
Long-board Technologies: A batch of long-board technologies and products will emerge in the five major fields of IC (Integrated Circuit), advanced computing, consumer electronics, basic electronics, and energy electronics, fostering world-class enterprises with strong competitiveness.
02. Four Main Threads: Understanding the 17 Tasks
(I) Building Foundations: Full-Chain Research on ICs, Ranked First Among the 17 Tasks
High-end Chips: High-performance processors, high-density memory, and high-reliability analog and mixed-signal chips;
Manufacturing: Refine and optimize mature process nodes, enhance advanced process capabilities, and promote the development and application of Advanced Packaging and testing technologies;
Materials and Devices: Promote the quality improvement and upgrading of the wide bandgap semiconductor industry, and advance the industrialization of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors such as gallium oxide and diamond;
Industrial Foundation: Enhance the supply capacity of key equipment, materials, and components, accelerate the development of EDA tools and IP cores, and promote technological breakthroughs and applications in 3D integration and other fields.
The first three of the nine special columns are deployed simultaneously: Column 1 deploys the high-end leap of electronic components and electronic materials (eight major directions); Column 2 implements the electronic dedicated equipment research plan (five types of equipment); Column 3 systematically deploys the photonics industry as an independent direction for the first time, covering photonic EDA, micro-nano processing, optoelectronic fusion integration, optical chips and devices, etc. The photonics industry is listed independently for the first time, regarded as a new growth pole alongside logic and memory.
(II) Improving Quality: Dual Drivers of Advanced Computing and Consumer Electronics
The Plan proposes building an advanced computing ecosystem, with particularly striking statements in the memory field—'accelerate the development of advanced storage capacity, and promote enhancing computing with storage and replacing computing with storage', developing new storage products such as high-bandwidth flash memory, high-bandwidth memory, ferroelectric memory, resistive memory, and magnetoelectric memory. At the same time, it lays out new paradigms such as processing-in-memory, quantum computing, optical computing, neuromorphic computing, and space computing, supporting AI (Artificial Intelligence) clusters with hundreds of thousands of cards and improving Zettascale supercomputing performance. Consumer electronics will focus on the upgrading of six major product categories: high-end smartphones, personal computers, audio-visual electronics, virtual reality, wearable devices, and new service-oriented terminals.
(III) Fostering New Growth: AI Hardware Foundation, Energy Electronics, and Spatiotemporal Information
AI Hardware Foundation: Enhance the comprehensive computing capabilities of GPGPU, ASIC, and SoC (System on Chip); promote the formulation and implementation of the CLink series of standards; tackle edge-side intelligent computing chips and high-end memory chips, develop processing-in-memory architecture, and support embodied intelligence and autonomous driving;
Energy Electronics: Industrialization of perovskite tandem solar cells; industrialization of solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries, flow batteries, and fuel cells; advanced power semiconductors and PMIC (Power Management IC);
Spatiotemporal Information: Large-scale application of BeiDou, satellite internet, and direct-to-cell satellite connectivity;
Industry Electronics: Smart cities, automotive electronics, medical electronics, and aviation/aerospace/marine electronics.
(IV) Governance and Sustainability: Anti-'Involution', Carbon Footprint, and High-Level Opening Up
Comprehensively address 'involution-style' competition; build a carbon footprint database for electronic information products; actively participate in international standardization activities, and improve relevant measures against sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.
03. Historic Moment: Diamond Included in a National Five-Year Plan for the First Time
1. Three Leaps in the Policy Context
In March 2026, the Outline of the National 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly mentioned 'gallium oxide and diamond' for the first time;
In September 2026, the statement was incorporated into the special plan for the electronic information manufacturing industry, transitioning from a 'directional declaration' to 'industrial deployment,' with a systematic increase in frequency and level;
Local Follow-up: Shanghai's 15th Five-Year Plan expanded the material list to three types: 'gallium oxide, diamond, and aluminum nitride,' specifying three major scenarios: 'power, radio frequency, and sensing.' The Action Plan for the Construction of the Fourth-Generation Semiconductor Future Industry Cluster in Lingang, Shanghai (2026-2028) went a step further, proposing to 'tackle the control of quantum diamond nitrogen-vacancy color centers and promote the expansion of diamond from thermal management materials to functional semiconductor materials.'
An interesting detail: At the national level, two materials, 'gallium oxide and diamond,' were explicitly mentioned, while Shanghai added aluminum nitride. Materials named in the outline are often the directions where resources are concentrated for key breakthroughs; the additional materials at the local level reflect differentiated layouts. The progression from 'industrialization development' to 'expansion into functional semiconductor materials' reveals a substantive upgrade in the positioning of diamond.
2. Three Dimensions to Understand the Shift in Strategic Positioning
First, the positioning leap from 'material attributes' to 'device attributes.' Previously, diamond was applied in 'material-level' scenarios such as abrasives, grinding tools, and cutting tools. Its inclusion in the semiconductor industrialization plan implies policy-level recognition of its technical feasibility for 'device-level' applications—power devices, RF devices, and quantum sensing devices. The core basis lies in its intrinsic advantages: as an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor, its breakdown electric field strength, carrier mobility, and thermal conductivity far exceed those of existing material systems. The policy places it on par with gallium oxide, essentially allocating resources according to the semiconductor material system rather than as an auxiliary material.
Second, strategic positioning under the logic of domestic substitution. The landscape of third-generation semiconductors (SiC/GaN) has solidified, with dominance concentrated in the hands of European, American, and Japanese companies; meanwhile, fourth-generation semiconductors globally are still in the transition stage from the laboratory to pilot production—this is precisely the 'starting line stage.' China possesses a unique industrial foundation in the diamond field: Henan accounts for over 80% of the global production capacity of synthetic diamond. The cost advantage in the era of ultra-hard materials may translate into autonomous and controllable supply chain capabilities in the semiconductor era. This policy move essentially leverages existing advantages at the raw material end to compete for industrial dominance while the landscape remains unsettled.
Third, supporting policies are being substantively implemented. Beyond directional guidance, supporting policies have followed: according to industry insiders, the subsidy ratio for the procurement of equipment for 8-inch and above CVD diamond production lines has been raised to 20%, with a maximum of CNY 150 million per project. The reward for a single product certified by leading chip manufacturers has been increased to CNY 8 million, and domestic substitution rate assessments have been set—the domestic substitution rate of diamond heat sinks for high-end computing will reach 40% in 2026 and exceed 60% in 2027. The dual drive of subsidies and assessments indicates that policies are moving from 'directional guidance' to 'implementation and promotion.'
3. Behind the Single Sentence: Industrial Direction, Resource Allocation, and Strategic Window
The significance of diamond's inclusion in the plan lies not in the sentence itself in the document, but in the industrial direction it confirms, the resource allocation it drives, and the strategic window it anchors. From the national outline to the Shanghai plan, and from 'industrialization development' to 'expansion into functional semiconductor materials,' the progression in policy texts reflects the continuous deepening of diamond's strategic positioning.
04. Sober Reflection: Several Checkpoints from 'Inclusion in the Plan' to 'Corporate Profitability'
It must be clearly recognized that from 'industrialization development' to 'corporate profitability,' there are still multiple checkpoints in between, such as pilot lines, yield rates, and customer certification. Engineering bottlenecks such as large-size crystal preparation, defect control, doping challenges, and processing costs remain to be solved. Enterprises that can truly navigate this process need not only policy dividends but also continuous technological iteration and engineering capabilities. Policies solve the issues of 'direction' and 'resources,' but ultimate market competitiveness still returns to the most fundamental aspects: product performance, cost curves, and supply chain response speed.
Conclusion
One plan, a CNY 30 trillion blueprint; one sentence, a new track. As diamond moves from cutting tools to power devices, and from heat sink materials to quantum sensing, this explicitly named 'ultra-hard material' is completing its identity switch from industrial raw material to strategic semiconductor. The whistle for the '15th Five-Year Plan' has already blown. On the starting line of fourth-generation semiconductors, this time, China is not absent.
Source: Full text of the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry, Xinhua News Agency Authoritative Express, MIIT WeChat Official Account, CCTV.com, and public policy texts.
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