[News] Moore Threads, MetaX Reportedly Top NVIDIA in R&D Ratios as China A-Share Chip R&D Hits Record ¥107B in 2025

As Beijing continues pushing for greater semiconductor self-sufficiency, Chinese chip companies are allocating a larger share of revenue to R&D. According to South China Morning Post, first-quarter earnings show that China’s leading chipmakers devoted a higher proportion of revenue to research and development than their US counterparts.

Beijing-based Moore Threads spent roughly half of its revenue on R&D in the quarter ended March 2026, while Shanghai-based MetaX allocated 45% over the same period, according to exchange filings cited by the report.

By comparison, US chipmakers such as AMD and Intel have generally allocated around 20% to 30% of revenue to R&D in recent years, according to the report. The report also notes that NVIDIA’s R&D ratio dropped sharply to 8.6% in 2025 from 27.2% in 2022, based on exchange filings, as its revenue surged to US$215.9 billion for the year ended January 25, 2026.

However, the report notes that Chinese chipmakers’ elevated R&D ratios may gradually moderate as revenue scales and commercialization improves. Their R&D spending as a share of revenue is expected to align more closely with US peers over time, a trend that is already emerging among some domestic chip designers.

Take Cambricon as an example. The report notes that the company spent 11.2% of its revenue on R&D in the quarter ended March 2026, down from 24.5% a year earlier, based on exchange filings. The lower ratio came as revenue growth accelerated sharply. Cambricon reported strong first-quarter 2026 results, with revenue surging 160% year over year to 2.9 billion yuan, while profit jumped 185% to 1 billion yuan.

Notably, despite their higher R&D ratios, Chinese chip firms still lag far behind US peers in absolute spending. Exchange filings show NVIDIA spent US$18.5 billion on R&D in its latest fiscal year, while AMD and Intel spent US$8 billion and US$13.8 billion, respectively. By comparison, China’s MetaX invested 1 billion yuan (US$146 million), the report notes.

China’s Chip R&D Spending Hits Record Highs

Even so, China’s semiconductor industry has been rapidly ramping up R&D investment in recent years. According to EE Times China’s Biaoshu Tech Insight, citing ijiwei, 238 listed semiconductor companies in China’s A-share market spent a combined 107.1 billion yuan on R&D in 2025, while the number of firms investing more than 1 billion yuan each in R&D rose to 30 — both marking record highs.

As EE Times China notes, SMIC remained the largest R&D spender with 5.519 billion yuan, narrowly ahead of Naura at 5.435 billion yuan. Hygon, OmniVision, and AMEC ranked third to fifth with R&D spending of 4.145 billion yuan, 2.843 billion yuan, and 2.475 billion yuan, respectively.

The report also notes that companies including JCET, Hua Hong, Wingtech, TongFu Microelectronics, Cambricon, VeriSilicon, and Moore Threads each surpassed 1 billion yuan in R&D spending, highlighting China’s broad push across AI chips, GPU design, IP licensing, and analog semiconductors.

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