LED equipment leader regains Chinese citizenship and cashes out nearly 100 million yuan to reduce tax payments

The leader in semiconductor equipment with a market value of 200 billion has made another important announcement.
Recently, China Microwave Corporation announced that it has recently received a "Letter of Intention to Reduce Holding" issued by the company's chairman and general manager Yin Zhiyao. Since it has restored its foreign citizenship to Chinese nationality, in order to handle relevant tax requirements in accordance with the law, it plans to reduce its holdings by no more than 290,000 shares, accounting for 0.046% of the company's total share capital.
According to disclosures, as of the date of the announcement, Yin Zhiyao directly held 4.1594 million shares of China Micro, accounting for 0.664% of the company's total share capital. The above-mentioned shares were all held before the company's initial public offering. This shareholding reduction plan will be carried out within 3 months from the date of disclosure of this announcement, and on the premise of complying with the reduction requirements of laws and regulations.
Based on the closing price on January 9, China Micro's stock price was 336.68 yuan per share, with a total market value of 210.8 billion yuan. Yin Zhiyao plans to reduce his stock holdings with a market value of approximately 97.64 million yuan.
According to disclosures, in the past 12 months, Yin Zhiyao reduced his holdings of 170,000 shares of the company through centralized bidding between May 27 and August 26, 2025, accounting for 0.027% of the total share capital. The price range for the reduction was 170.76 yuan/share to 207.36 yuan/share.
Previously, China Micro's 2022 annual report showed that Yin Zhiyao is an American national. In China Micro's 2024 annual report, Yin Zhiyao's nationality was changed to Chinese nationality.
As a leader in China's semiconductor equipment industry, Yin Zhiyao's personal experience is deeply tied to the development history of China Microelectronics Corporation, demonstrating the family and country sentiments and industry responsibilities of a generation of scientific researchers.
Data show that Yin Zhiyao was born in Beijing in 1944 and was admitted to the University of Science and Technology of China in 1962 Department of Chemical Physics. After graduating in 1968, he worked successively at Lanzhou Oil Refinery and Lanzhou Institute of Physical Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, accumulating a solid scientific research foundation. From 1978 to 1980, he studied for a master's degree in the Department of Chemistry at Peking University, and then went to study abroad at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he obtained a doctorate in physical chemistry, starting his career in the semiconductor field.
From 1984 to 1986, he worked in the Intel Center Technology Development Department as a process engineer; from 1986 to 1991, he worked in Lam Semiconductor, serving as senior engineer and senior manager of the R&D Department; from 1991 to 2004, he worked in Applied Materials, serving as He serves as the chief technology officer of the plasma etching equipment product headquarters, vice president of the head office and general manager of the plasma etching business group, and chief technology officer of the Asia headquarters.
It is reported that while working at Applied Materials, Yin Zhiyao participated in and led the research and development of several generations of international plasma etching machines. He also obtained 86 U.S. patents and more than 200 international patents, and was evaluated as "one of the most accomplished Chinese in Silicon Valley."
According to reports, in 2004, 60-year-old Yin Zhiyao did not choose to retire, but led a group of technical elites working in Silicon Valley to return to China to start a business. From 2004 to now, Yin Zhiyao has served as the chairman, general manager, and core technical staff of China Microelectronics. The total pre-tax compensation received from the company in 2024 is 14.8514 million yuan.
In the past ten years, Yin Zhiyao has led the team to continue to break through technical barriers, and the country's first kit in the field of semiconductor equipment has been achieved. News spread frequently.
As of now, AMEC can meet more than 95% of etching needs nationwide; AMEC's etching equipment can also cover production processes from 65nm to 5nm. AMEC is the first high-end supplier in mainland China to enter TSMC's 5nm production line.
In the field of MOCVD equipment, China Microelectronics has also become the MOCVD equipment supplier with the largest market share of gallium nitride-based LEDs.
The latest three quarterly reports disclosed by China Microelectronics Corporation show that in the first three quarters of 2025, the company maintained strong development momentum, achieving operating income of 8.063 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.40%; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 1.211 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.66%.
The announcement also made it clear that Yin Zhiyao is not the company's controlling shareholder, actual controller, or person acting in concert, nor is he a shareholder who directly holds more than 5% of the shares. There is uncertainty in the implementation of this shareholding reduction plan, and he will decide whether to implement the reduction and the specific amount and price based on factors such as market conditions and the company's stock price. This reduction will not cause a change in the company's control, nor will it have an impact on corporate governance and sustainable operations.
In addition, in December 2025, China Microwave Company announced that it planned to purchase 64.69% of the equity of Hangzhou Zhongsi through the issuance of shares and payment of cash.
This is not the first recent acquisition by China Micro. In fact, since its listing in 2019, China Microelectronics has made frequent external investments. In total, it has invested more than 2 billion yuan in about 40 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain.