China's Tsinghua Unigroup to invest $47 billion to build chip empire

BEIJING | HONG KONG: China's Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd plans to invest 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) over the next five years to build the world's third-biggest chipmaker, the chairman of the state-backed technology conglomerate said on Monday.

Chairman Zhao Weiguo also told Reuters in an interview that Tsinghua Unigroup, controlled by Beijing's elite Tsinghua University which counts President Xi Jinping among its alumni, was in talks with a US-based company involved in the chip industry.

Zhao said a deal could be finalised as early as the end of this month. He declined to give more details but said buying a majority stake was unlikely as it was too "sensitive" for the US government.

The Chinese company was also suspending plans to invest in Taiwanese tech firms due to regulatory hurdles, after agreeing to take a stake in Powertech Technology Inc and expressing interest in more cross-strait deals.