According to recent media reports, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) plans to begin supplying chips using 90-nanometer technology to major clients such as Texas Instruments beginning in 2005.

The scheme is seen as a breakthrough in China's acquisition of advanced technology, as the country has wanted to nurture domestic semiconductor makers and reduce the country's once total dependence on imported chips for its own electronics industry for some time now.

SMIC said it is in trial operations for 90-nanometer processing technology, a label that describes the average size of the minuscule chip features. The company said it expects to offer chips using that technology beginning in the first half of 2005.