China exported 179.44 billion integrated circuits worth $177.28 billion in the first six months of 2026, a 96% year-on-year increase by value, according to customs data. This surge is primarily attributed to a worldwide memory price boom, inflating the value of commodity-grade chips like DRAM and NAND from Chinese makers such as CXMT and YMTC, rather than advanced processors. The average export value of roughly $0.99 per chip reflects the composition of China's IC exports, which includes memory, power management, and microcontrollers, alongside chips packaged and tested for re-export.
Global memory prices are sharply higher, inflating commodity chip export values and confirming sustained demand for conventional memory as HBM capacity is prioritized for AI.