Former Professor Becomes Billionaire As China Bolsters Its Semiconductor Supply Chain

Liu Jianfang, a former professor who spent almost two decades teaching at China’s Jilin University, is the latest entrepreneur to amass immense wealth from the country’s self-reliance drive.

Shares of a semiconductor component maker Liu founded in 2013 have surged almost 400% from their initial public offering price within days of the firm’s Shanghai listing on Tuesday, giving the academic a $1.4 billion net worth based on his stake, according to Forbes estimates.

Liu, 51, is the chairman and CEO of Jiangsu Gao Kai Precision Fluid Technology (GK Precision). Headquartered in Changzhou, a city about a two-hour drive from Shanghai, the component maker raised 1.5 billion yuan ($224 million) in late August by selling 25 million shares at 61.4 yuan apiece, according to a stock exchange filing. It intends to use the proceeds for research and development, including the construction of a new research center in China. GK Precision didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The company’s products include flow controllers that are essential in high-end chip manufacturing. Using precise control systems, these devices measure and dispense various gases and liquids used to make semiconductors. “This market has long been dominated by American and Japanese companies,” GK Precision wrote in its prospectus. “China has a very late start.”

Yet as Beijing continues to bolster its domestic tech supply chain amid fierce rivalry with the U.S., Liu’s company has won customers. GK Precision now sells to firms including BYD, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), according to its prospectus. It competes with the likes of American multinational Nordson and Japanese precision equipment maker Horiba, the prospectus shows.

Last year, revenue grew over 20% year-over-year to 510.6 million yuan. Net profit rose by a third to 132.7 million yuan from a year ago, according to its prospectus. When Liu set up the firm more than a decade ago, it initially focused on selling to sectors such as autos and electronics. The mogul, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanics from Jilin University in northeast China, also studied mechanical engineering for about a year at Japan’s Yamagata University. He returned to China and continued to teach at his alma mater before leaving in 2019 to fully focus on GK Precision.