China’s top player Empyrean eyes opportunities from US chip curbs on design software

Beijing-based company hopes to ascend to the top tier of global EDA providers, but acknowledges considerable gap with US rivals

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Semiconductor chips seen on a circuit board. Photo: Reuters

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 6:30pm, 20 Jun 2025

Chinese chip-design software company Empyrean Technology has pledged to become one of the world’s top electronic design automation (EDA) providers, as new US export restrictions bring both opportunities and challenges to the domestic industry.

Founded in 2009 and based in Beijing, Empyrean aims to ascend to the top tier of EDA providers, capitalising on the struggles faced by its US competitors in selling to China because of new export controls on chip-design software, said Yu Han, a senior market director at Empyrean, at the World Semiconductor Conference in Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu province, on Friday.

The remarks came after Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys and Siemens EDA – the three leading EDA suppliers that collectively hold about 80 per cent of the global market share – confirmed they had received notices from the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security regarding new export restrictions on software that could be used for developing advanced artificial intelligence chips.

Those export controls have raised hopes among Chinese investors and analysts that local companies could seize new market opportunities. Besides Empyrean, other domestic EDA tool vendors, such as Primarius Technologies and Semitronix, have also garnered attention.

Yu said China currently had over 100 domestic EDA companies, with Empyrean capturing half of that market share. He said Empyrean was the only Chinese company positioned among the second-tier global EDA providers, along with US firms Ansys and Keysight Technologies.