Chip manufacturers lack about half a million specialists

China’s rise in the chip industry is being hampered by a massive shortage of well-trained engineers and other skilled workers. “If you add up all affected areas, our national chip talent gap is probably about 600,000 specialists.” Li Jingbo, dean of the School of Semiconductor Science and Technology at South China Normal University, told China’s Global Times. In particular, “the manufacturing and materials sector” is affected by a shortage of well-trained employees. Accordingly, there would be large gaps in university education in electrical and electronic engineering. Only one Chinese university (Tsinghua University) is among the top 20 universities in this field.