AXT Expands Chinese Substrate Operations

FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 7 -- AXT Inc. is expanding operations at its Beijing facility and has made investments in raw material extraction facilities that strengthen its position in the semiconductor substrate market.

"Expansion in China is a key component of our plans to strengthen our position as the world's leading provider of compound substrates and to grow our optoelectronic devices business,"' said Morris Young, president and CEO. "We consider our China operation to be the cornerstone of our growth strategy. Our presence in China brings us closer to many of our customers and sources of raw materials, and improves our efficiency, competitiveness and control over production costs.

"We have already qualified our China-produced substrates with a majority of our customers, and have scheduled qualification with a number of others," Young said. "The production and investment steps we are announcing today constitute the next implementation phase in our long-term China strategy. We expect our presence in China to continue to enhance our competitiveness as the industry recovers."