China semiconductor equipment imports grow 9% in July, Barclays comments

Investing.com -- China's semiconductor equipment imports increased 9% year-over-year in July, according to a Barclays report, following a 1% decline in the second quarter of 2026 and a weak first quarter.

The July growth marked an acceleration from 4% growth in June. First-quarter imports had fallen 16% year-over-year, while second-quarter imports declined 1% overall.

Logic chip production is driving current semiconductor equipment demand in China. Lithography imports grew 7% year-over-year in July, improving from 3% growth in June.

Chemical vapor deposition equipment imports rose 15% year-over-year in July, compared to a 16% decline in June. Etching equipment imports fell 6% year-over-year in July, an improvement from the 24% decline in June.

Assembly and back-end equipment imports grew 35% year-over-year in July, following 43% growth in June. Wire bonder imports increased 61% year-over-year.

The recovery in imports is largely driven by the Shanghai region, which aligns with ASML commentary from second-quarter earnings that China demand is being driven by logic spending while memory spending remains low.

Barclays expects China memory spending to accelerate in the second half of the year as capacity expansions increase pace.

The bank projects China wafer fabrication equipment growth of 10% for 2026 and 15% for 2027. The addressable market for Barclays coverage could grow 3% in 2026 and 7% in 2027 when factoring in export controls and China localization.

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