China has announced a new technological achievement with the development of its first domestically made commercial electronic printing machine, named “Xizhi.” It was officially unveiled on August 13, 2025, in Yuhang, Hangzhou, as part of China’s efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign technology.

The “Xizhi” machine utilizes high-energy electron beam lithography, which allows it to print circuits directly onto silicon wafers without the need for the optical masks used by traditional machines, such as those produced by the Dutch company ASML or Japan’s Nikon and Canon, which use a light beam, not an electron beam.

This gives “Xizhi” a high degree of flexibility in modifying designs, making it ideal for the initial research and development phases of chips. It can achieve a precision of up to 0.6 nanometers and draw lines with a width of 8 nanometers, specifications that rival the best international equipment.

The “Xizhi” technology differs from traditional photolithography machines like DUV and EUV (which rely on ultraviolet light) in its method of operation. While ASML’s machines use complex masks to transfer designs onto the wafer, “Xizhi” engraves directly with an electron beam.

Although the electron beam lithography technique offers high precision and great flexibility, it is extremely slow compared to EUV technologies, making it unsuitable for mass production. Therefore, “Xizhi” is considered an ideal tool for research and development and for manufacturing limited quantities of specialized chips, rather than for large-scale commercial production.

The launch of “Xizhi” represents a strategic achievement for China, providing it with a domestically made “Chinese engraving tool” that reduces China’s dependence on foreign equipment subject to strict export controls. It will also accelerate the pace of research and development in advanced chips and other sensitive technologies, allowing China to test its innovations in chip manufacturing processes while more economical machines become ready for use.

Despite not being a complete substitute for ASML’s machines in commercial production, “Xizhi” is a real and important step towards China’s technological self-sufficiency.