Chinese firms have formed a High-End Chip Alliance to vertically integrate the development of China's semiconductor industry, reported Shanghai Securities News on August 5. The alliance is composed of 27 semiconductor companies and related R&D institutions, including Tsinghua Unigroup, Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, and CATR (China Academy of Telecommunication Research of MIIT), covering the development of China's semiconductor industry from the set-up of the industry's architecture, chip production, software/system development and information services. In 2015, China consumed about 60% of the semiconductor products in the world, but the self-sufficiency ratio is only 27%. Thus, China has aggressively acquired foreign semiconductor companies and built domestic alliances to reduce chip imports. According to SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), China will be home to around half of the world's wafer plants to be built during 2016 and 2017.