I just saw some pretty shocking industry news: the prototype of Shenzhen’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine has already been assembled. What does that mean? It means China’s lithography is finally set to break ASML’s monopoly.

Honestly, this has been underestimated all along. Right now, the only company in the world that can manufacture EUV lithography machines is ASML. Each machine costs $250 million. The top chips from Nvidia, Apple, and AMD all can’t do without it. The reason U.S. chip sanctions against China can work in the first place is fundamentally that they choke off this link.

China’s lithography project has actually been quietly moving forward for 6 years, with Huawei coordinating behind the scenes. The goal is very clear—to completely eliminate reliance on the U.S. supply chain. According to a Reuters report, the prototype can already produce EUV radiation, and according to the plan, mass production of chips will begin between 2028 and 2030.

If this really comes to pass, the consequences will be significant. U.S. sanctions in the semiconductor industry would basically become ineffective, and China would achieve full independence in AI and defense technologies. This is not only an industrial issue—it’s a reshuffling of geopolitics. The global economic landscape would undergo fundamental changes.

The question now is whether China’s lithography machine can truly achieve mass production and whether its yield can reach commercial levels—these details still depend on what happens next. But even just getting the prototype completed already shows something important.