China’s struggle to make advanced chips dramatized in new series

A new series in China tells the story of a scrappy startup developing the advanced chipmaking technology that multinational trade sanctions today are keeping out of the country.

Airing on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Netflix-like Youku from Monday, My Chinese Chip hits on a priority issue for the Beijing government — semiconductor leadership and self-sufficiency — and depicts a state-supported firm successfully building lasers for deep ultraviolet lithography machines.

An escalating trade war between the US and China has barred the best such DUV gear, provided by ASML Holding NV, from being sold in the Asian country. My Chinese Chip shows a domestic company overcoming a plethora of challenges to nevertheless succeed.

Its trailer opens with a single line in English: “We are executing a lithography machine trading war against China’s government.” The title can also be read as a pun on My Chinese Heart, as “chip” and “heart” sound the same in Chinese. Its official name in English is The Best Chip.

ASML has not been able to sell its most potent offering, extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, to China since the Trump administration pressured the Dutch government to deny a license for it.

The Netherlands and the US reached an agreement earlier this year to ban ASML from selling some machines in its second-most advanced lineup, affecting its DUV systems. DUV machines are indispensable for the fabrication of a wide range of chips powering products from smartphones to electric vehicles.