Brothers Become Billionaires From Supplying Chemicals To China’s Semiconductor Industry

Key Concepts

• Semiconductor Self-Sufficiency: China’s strategic initiative to reduce reliance on foreign chip technology.
• Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP): A process used to planarize (flatten) silicon wafers to allow for circuit printing and chip stacking.
• Lithography: The process of using ultraviolet light to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers.
• Photoresist: A light-sensitive chemical used in lithography to capture circuit designs.
• Advanced Semiconductor Packaging: Techniques like wafer thinning and stacking (e.g., for High-Bandwidth Memory) that require specialized adhesives.
• ChiNext: A NASDAQ-style board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange focused on high-tech and growth enterprises.

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1. Corporate Overview and Financial Performance

Hubei Dinglong, a Wuhan-based company, has become a critical supplier in China’s semiconductor supply chain. The company’s co-founders, brothers Ju Shuang Quan (Chairman) and Ju Shung Quan (CEO), have achieved billionaire status as the company’s Shenzhen-listed shares surged nearly 116% over the past year.

• Valuation: Each brother holds approximately a 15% stake, with Forbes estimating their individual net worth at $1.3 billion.
• Q1 2026 Financials: Net profit reached 251 million yuan (~$36.9 million), a 78% year-on-year increase. Revenue grew 24% to 1 billion yuan.
• Revenue Composition: In 2025, over 50% of the company’s 3.7 billion yuan revenue was derived from semiconductor-related businesses, with the remainder coming from printer consumables (toners) and OLED display materials. Approximately 70% of total revenue is generated domestically.

2. Core Semiconductor Technologies

Dinglong’s growth is driven by its ability to replace foreign incumbents in three key areas:

• CMP Materials: Dinglong is the only Chinese supplier covering the full range of CMP materials, including slurries (for flattening) and cleaning fluids (for residue removal).
• Lithography: Following 2022 US export controls, the company expanded into photoresist production. While currently limited to lower-end chip manufacturing, these products are now in a "stable small-batch supply" phase.
• Advanced Packaging: The company produces temporary bonding adhesives, which allow silicon wafers to be ground to thicknesses thinner than a human hair, facilitating the creation of stacked chips like High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

3. Historical Evolution and Strategic Pivot

The company’s trajectory reflects a deliberate shift from traditional manufacturing to high-tech materials:

• Founding (2000): The brothers, both former managers at state-owned enterprises, founded Dinglong to reduce China’s dependence on imports, initially focusing on printer toner chemicals.
• IPO (2010): The company went public on the ChiNext board, raising 458 million yuan.
• The Pivot (2012): Recognizing that CMP materials shared chemical similarities with toner materials, the company pivoted to the semiconductor sector to challenge foreign dominance.
• Divestment: To maintain focus on semiconductor materials, the company has divested portions of its printer-related business.

4. Leadership Philosophy

The founders attribute their success to a "burn-the-boats" mentality—a term used by Ju Shuang Quan to describe the intense drive required for Chinese private enterprises to succeed with limited initial resources.

• Notable Quote: Ju Shuang Quan stated in 2019: "In the early days of starting a business, aside from an idea, a burst of drive, and an insight into a market or an innovative product opportunity, Chinese private enterprises had nothing. They relied solely on a burn-the-boats spirit to get things moving."

5. Synthesis and Conclusion

Hubei Dinglong’s rise to prominence is a direct result of China’s national push for semiconductor self-reliance. By successfully transitioning from printer consumables to high-barrier-to-entry semiconductor materials like CMP slurries, photoresists, and packaging adhesives, the company has positioned itself as a vital domestic alternative to foreign suppliers. Despite the early-stage nature of their lithography and advanced packaging ventures, the company’s strong financial growth and strategic focus on domestic supply chains suggest a continued trajectory of expansion within the global semiconductor ecosystem.