China’s EUV Lithography Prototype

According to a Reuters investigation dated December 17, China has built and is testing its first domestic prototype of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine in a high-security laboratory in Shenzhen. The prototype, completed in early 2025, is capable of generating EUV light but has not yet produced functional chips. EUV lithography is essential for manufacturing the most advanced semiconductors and has until now been mastered only by the Dutch company ASML, whose machines cost about $250 million each and required nearly two decades and billions of euros in research and development to commercialize.

The Chinese prototype was developed under a secret, six-year government-led program aimed at semiconductor self-sufficiency, a priority of President Xi Jinping. The project reportedly involved former ASML engineers who reverse-engineered EUV systems using technical expertise and components sourced from older ASML machines available on secondary markets. Huawei plays a central coordinating role across research institutes and companies, while state bodies oversee strategy and security. The government’s target is to produce working chips by 2028, though sources close to the project consider 2030 a more realistic timeline.

Despite the progress, China faces major technical obstacles, particularly in replicating advanced optical systems supplied to ASML by firms such as Germany’s Carl Zeiss. The current prototype is larger and less refined than ASML’s commercial machines and still requires significant improvements in optics, reliability, and contamination control. The effort continues amid strict US-led export controls that have barred China from purchasing EUV systems and restricted access to related technologies, underscoring the strategic importance of the project within the broader US–China semiconductor competition.