China to encourage local use of open-source RISC-V chips for the first time

Back in 2019, China's Academy of Sciences initiated the XiangShan project, which involves rolling out the open-source chip with the same name before the end of this year. A recent update revealed steady progress, and now insiders familiar with local legislation claim that Chinese authorities are working on policy guidance that would encourage the use of RISC-V chips. Although many details are still unclear, it seems that the draft could be completed this month.

According to Reuters, the two anonymous sources who spoke about this topic revealed that the documentation is being drafted by eight government bodies. The list includes the Cyberspace Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Intellectual Property Administration. Sadly, these four ministries declined to say anything regarding the ongoing policy discussions, but we will keep an eye on this story.

While the chip industry is currently dominated by US companies such as Intel and AMD, both using proprietary technologies, the open-source nature of RISC-V chips makes them geopolitically neutral. Additionally, Chinese companies have been focusing on the use of this architecture due to the lower costs involved. Alibaba-owned XuanTie and a startup known as Nuclei System Technology are the largest for-profit RISC-V intellectual property providers in China. Thanks to the lower computing power requirements when compared to other solutions, DeepSeek-based apps could lead to an increased demand for RISC-V chips in China and on the global market.