Chapter 258 Can We Poach Him?
Zhang Rujin remained silent for a long time.
Just then, a Santana car drove slowly along the avenue.
When the driver spotted Su Yuanshan and Zhang Rujin, the car stopped, and a middle-aged engineer, around forty years old, quickly stepped out and walked toward them.
"Hello, Dr. Qiu."
Su Yuanshan recognized the man and glanced at Zhang Rujin, feeling a strange emotion rising within him. He quickly stepped forward, smiling warmly as he extended his hand.
Qiu Ciyun grasped Su Yuanshan's hand and smiled back.
"Last time I came back, you had just left, and we missed each other. It's fate we meet like this now."
"The fault is mine," Su Yuanshan said modestly.
"I should have come sooner to visit a national hero like Dr. Qiu, who is willing to contribute to our country's semiconductor industry."
"No, no, you're too kind, far too kind."
After a few moments of cordial handshaking, Su Yuanshan glanced back at Zhang Rujin, noting the smile lingering on his face.
It was clear that the two had been working well together over the past few months.
Sometimes, fate worked in the strangest ways.
Qiu Ciyun — the true second-generation leader of SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) — had an unusual history.
After graduating from Berkeley, he spent time in Munich before settling at AT&T's Bell Labs, eventually becoming the head of high-speed electronic circuits.
Had things followed their original course, he would have been poached by TSMC a year later and, upon meeting Zhang Rujin — who had been absorbed into TSMC through its acquisition of World Semiconductor Corporation — they would have become close associates.
Later, they would have moved together to the mainland to found SMIC, where Qiu served as Executive Vice President, Zhang's right-hand man.
However, after a few years, their differing business philosophies created irreconcilable tensions.
In 2005, Qiu Ciyun resigned from SMIC, later joining Hua Hong and a Malaysian wafer plant.
Meanwhile, after Zhang Rujin lost two lawsuits and was forced out of SMIC, the company plunged into endless "Game of Thrones" style infighting.
—The gossip from that period could fill three days and nights of storytelling.
When Zhang left, Wang Guoning, representing the "Taiwan faction," was recommended as CEO by the tragically short-lived Jiang Shangzhou.
But the biggest shareholder, China Telecom, wanted to install Yang Shining.
The infighting escalated — the Taiwan and mainland factions fought viciously, dragging the battle from internal forums to online communities.
The debacle was infamous, and when the dust finally settled, both Wang and Yang had resigned.
Qiu Ciyun returned to SMIC after that chaos, working to stabilize the company and steer it back toward healthy development.
In SMIC's history:
Zhang was the founder,Qiu was the (relatively) stabilizing second generation,Liang would later become the breakthrough leader.
Qiu's tenure is sometimes described as "(weakly) pulling the company back from the brink" because he pursued conservative policies.
He didn't invest heavily in pushing process technology but focused on expanding the market and improving yield rates.
Under his leadership, SMIC, after nine years of unprofitability, finally turned a profit.
Still, SMIC, as the mainland's great semiconductor hope, carried a historic mission to make technological breakthroughs — which is why Liang's leadership was necessary afterward.
Now, Qiu Ciyun had come to the mainland ahead of schedule and had already established a good relationship with Zhang Rujin — a development that almost felt inevitable.
And most importantly:
With Yuanxin, and with Su Yuanshan around, this new Derun Semiconductor wouldn't have to tiptoe around external pressures like SMIC once had.
Su Yuanshan would do whatever it took to burn through process development.
// If you're interested in the drama of SMIC's leadership, you can look it up yourself. If you're too lazy, I'll write about it when I have time.
...
After a few minutes of polite conversation, Qiu Ciyun got back into his car and continued toward the factory.
Watching him leave, Zhang Rujin turned to Su Yuanshan and said seriously,
"Unless absolutely necessary, I still hope to remain at TI until 1997. It's not about the pension — it's about maintaining a good relationship with TI."
"During these three years, I'll try to find ways to stay here as much as possible," he added with a smile.
"Actually, staying is simple — as long as we keep expanding and building new plants.
As for the 0.5-micron process, we can consider letting TI increase their stake through a technical investment. Of course, that part will depend on you to negotiate."
"...Alright."
Hearing Zhang Rujin's commitment to staying, Su Yuanshan finally relaxed a little.
Su Yuanshan asked again,
"Building new plants is no problem — Yuanxin can inject funds or we can even raise public financing.
But how do we solve the shortage of skilled engineers?"
"Senior engineers handle process development.
Ordinary engineers manage production lines.
The former needs years of work experience, but the latter can be trained.
So, as long as we recruit and train enough ordinary engineers early, the problem can be managed," Zhang Rujin explained with a smile.
"The hardest part is the beginning. Once our current plant runs properly, everything else will fall into place."
Su Yuanshan praised,
"You're truly an expert in this field."
Zhang Rujin laughed and shook his head,
"Once the processes are mature, training ordinary engineers becomes easy.
The real challenge lies in technological breakthroughs.
We must recruit top talents who can lead advances across many specialized areas.
The semiconductor industry — and China's current situation — simply doesn't allow time for blind exploration.
We must bring in the best people."
Su Yuanshan completely agreed.
At the moment, among all the domestic players — Huajing, Shougang NEC, and Beling —
only Huajing even dared to speak of future breakthroughs in process technology.
And even that was just aspiration, not capability.
Frankly, China lagged too far behind.
Even with institutions like Yongchuan Semiconductor laying foundations, Huajing couldn't keep up with process iteration — let alone the fact that Huajing was practically broke.
Moreover, the original "908 Project" funding was structured as loans...
Huajing's urgent priority was simply to turn a profit, not to invest in expensive process R&D.
Everyone knew:
Developing process technology was a money-burning exercise — burning through masks, wafers, and time.
Fortunately, with Yuanxin's rise, the government had begun supporting Huajing directly — largely based on the recommendations of Su Xinghe and his son, Su Yuanshan.
As a semiconductor authority, Su Xinghe's advice carried significant weight in national planning.
He firmly believed that China needed to support its semiconductor industry — and that support had to be focused.
Thus, after careful consideration, the government decided to increase direct funding to Huajing and reach a tacit understanding with Yuanxin:
—Huajing would focus on scale expansion and domestic low-end chip production.
—Yuanxin would spearhead breakthroughs in process technology.
As for Yuanxin, government support came in the form of policies, tax breaks, and preferential access to foreign exchange.
"So yes, we must bring in outside talent — especially the key technical experts from potential competitors,"
Zhang Rujin said with a chuckle, continuing,
"As for salary, I've thought about it.
The best way is to offer them stock options primarily, with salaries as a secondary incentive.
We should also set up a rewards pool based on seniority and tenure.
That way, whether they're recruits from abroad or local employees, they'll all have something to look forward to."
"Mhm, and we also need to implement strict salary confidentiality policies," Su Yuanshan said, thinking about how many companies in the future would prohibit discussing salaries.
He shook his head self-mockingly — and then froze slightly, remembering Zhang Rujin's mention of "potential competitors' technical experts."
"Uncle Zhang," Su Yuanshan asked, "have you heard of a guy at TSMC called Liang Mengsong?"
Zhang Rujin thought for a moment and nodded.
"I've heard of him.
He's Qiu Ciyun's senior schoolmate from Berkeley."
"Can we poach him?"
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