Air Liquide China (Electronics) · 液化空气（中国）投资有限公司

Specialty Gas

A foreign (French-headquartered) industrial gas major with one of the largest confirmed manufacturing footprints of any multinational in China — close to 9…
Published

October 11, 2026

Chinese name: 液化空气（中国）投资有限公司 (Yèhuà Kōngqì (Zhōngguó) Tóuzī Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī)

TipWhy This Matters

A foreign (French-headquartered) industrial gas major with one of the largest confirmed manufacturing footprints of any multinational in China — close to 90 factories across 40+ Chinese cities and over 4,000 employees overall, as of 2018, with a dedicated electronics business (ultra-high-purity gases, chemical liquids, and related equipment for semiconductor, flat-panel-display, and photovoltaic customers) employing over 3,000 of them. Represented here at its Shanghai electronics-business base; its actual gas plants are distributed nationally, not concentrated at one site — a genuine case where a single map marker understates the real footprint.

What does this firm supply?

Ultra-high-purity carrier gases, electronic specialty gases, and chemical liquids for semiconductor fabs, alongside related delivery equipment — a parallel supplier to Linde in the same specialty-gas chokepoint category.

Key Facts

Category Materials
Segment Specialty Gas
Node Capability Not applicable — a materials/gas supplier, not a process-node-specific tool
Founded Unknown
HQ Shanghai
Capacity 52,000 Nm3/h nitrogen (Wuhan plant), as of 2022 — single-plant capacity, planned start 2022; group China electronics total not disclosed
Entity List No
Last Verified Not recorded (newest source dated Sep 2026)

Capability Trajectory

  • 2014: On-site UHP nitrogen generator for SMIC Beijing Fab B2 (300mm, 28nm), EUR 18m, start early 2014
  • 2022: Wuhan plant, 52,000 Nm3/h N2 plus O2/Ar, for a flash memory leader; EUR ~70m
  • 2027: Four UHP N2 units for electronics customers in YRD/PRD, >100,000 Nm3/h, start late 2027-early 2028

Manufacturing Sites in China

  • Air Liquide on-site N2 generator, SMIC Beijing Fab B2 (Beijing) — Ultra-high-purity nitrogen and bulk carrier gases for SMIC’s 300mm 28nm fab
  • Air Liquide Wuhan electronics gas plant (Wuhan) — 52,000 Nm3/h nitrogen plus oxygen and argon for a flash-memory maker (unnamed; YMTC is the Wuhan flash maker but not named)

Sources

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