Chaozhou Three-Circle (CCTC; ) is a

publicly listed A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (li ...

Chinese

electronic component An electronic component is any basic discrete electronic device or physical entity part of an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singula ...

s and

advanced materials ''Advanced Materials'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. It includes communications, reviews, and feature articles on topics in chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, ceramics, metallurgy, and biomaterials. Accor ...

company headquartered in

Chaozhou Chaozhou ( zh, t=潮州), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Background

CCTC was founded in 1970 as a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

. It originally was established to manufacture

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

substrates and

resistor A resistor is a passive two-terminal electronic component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active e ...

s. In 1984, CCTC started using overseas equipment to automate the manufacturing production. By the end of the 1990s, it had become the world's largest manufacturer of ceramic substrates and resistors. In 1992, CCTC was restructured as a private

Joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

. Zhang Wanzhen who had worked for the company since the age of 16 after junior high school was the chairman of the newly restructured company. In 1996, CCTC stated investing in the production of Alumina substrates for resistors of

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

s. In 2001, CCTC through

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

created new products for integrated circuits components. With the development of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, CCTC also started producing ceramic components for

optical communication Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. The earliest basic forms of optical communication date ...

s. In 2004, CCTC entered the new energy market and started developing materials for

Solid oxide fuel cell A solid oxide fuel cell (or SOFC) is an Electrochemistry, electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or cera ...

s. In 2005, CCTC started developing its own specialized equipment to get around the restriction of overseas equipment. In 2008, CCTC entered the

integrated circuit packaging Integrated circuit packaging is the final stage of fabrication (semiconductor), semiconductor device fabrication, in which the die (integrated circuit), die is encapsulated in a supporting case that prevents physical damage and corrosion. The ...

market and started manufacturing materials for it. On 3 December 2014 CCTC held its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

becoming a listed company on the

Shenzhen Stock Exchange The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE; ) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shenzhen, in the People's Republic of China. It is one of three stock exchanges operating independently in Mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Excha ...

. The offering raised US$216 million. On 12 October 2020,

General secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

came to inspect CCTC during his tour of Guangdong. For China's top 10 chip subsidy recipients in 2022, CCTC came ninth receiving 213 million yuan in subsidies.

Products

CCTC's mainly produces electronic ceramic products. These include

Mobile phone accessories Mobile accessories include any hardware that is not integral to the operation of a mobile smartphone as designed by the manufacturer, and adds utility to the mobile phone. Cases Cases, which are designed to attach to, support, or otherwise ...

Wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the s ...

exteriors and ceramic materials used in the integrated circuit field. CCTC has manufactured phone rear covers that are said to have high durability. It is the core supplier of

Xiaomi Xiaomi (; ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for consumer electronics software electric vehicles. It is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the worl ...

and also supplied

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

Oppo Oppo (sometimes stylized as OPPO) is a private company, private China, Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Founded in 2004, its major product lines include Oppo phones, smartphones, Smart device, sm ...

, Vivo and OnePlus. Oher clients of CCTC include Bloom Energy,

Amphenol Amphenol Corporation is an American producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as coaxial cables. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp. History Amph ...

and

Vishay Intertechnology Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. is an American manufacturer of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components founded by Polish-born businessman Felix Zandman. Vishay has manufacturing plants in Israel, Asia, Europe, and the America ...

Alleged industrial espionage

In October 2020, a 45-year-old researcher was accused by authorities of engaging in

industrial espionage Industrial espionage, also known as economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage, is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrat ...

against

Sekisui Chemical Sekisui Chemical is a Plastics manufacturer with head offices in Osaka and Tokyo. The company owns a plethora of subsidiaries engaged in a variety of businesses. Sekisui has over 27,000 employees in more than eighteen countries worldwide. Hist ...

on behalf of CCTC. He divulged information on the production of conductive particles used in

touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

s between August 2018 and January 2019. CCTC allegedly approached the man in 2018 through a message on

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

and invited him to visit China with the expenses paid for. During one of the trips, CCTC proposed exchanging its technology for Sekisui Chemical's. The researcher was accused of copying company information to his personal flash drive and emailing the data to CCTC on his own computer. He was dismissed in May 2019 following an internal investigation. Authorities stated his motives were to obtain technology from CCTC for Sekisui Chemical that would boost his standing within the company. CCTC made no comment on the case.

References

External links

* {{Electronics industry in China 1970 establishments in China 2014 initial public offerings Companies based in Guangdong Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Electronics companies established in 1970 Manufacturing companies established in 1970 1970 in Chaozhou