SK Hynix Adjusting China Strategy? $3 Billion Chongqing Plant Reportedly Seeking Investors

South Korean memory giant SK Hynix (SKHY-US) is reportedly assessing multiple disposal options for its Chongqing plant in China, including introducing investors to accelerate business growth. According to sources, if the company ultimately decides to sell a partial stake, the facility’s valuation could reach approximately $3 billion.

Bloomberg reported on Friday (7th) that SK Hynix is currently engaging with potential advisors to prepare an evaluation of its Chongqing operations. Potential buyers could include Chinese funds and industry players, with the company possibly retaining a minority stake in the asset. However, discussions remain at an early stage and may not lead to any transaction. An SK Hynix representative declined to comment.

SK Hynix is one of the primary suppliers of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for NVIDIA, and has been operating in the Chinese market for over 20 years. The company originally signed an agreement with Wuxi City in Jiangsu Province to establish its first large-scale overseas wafer fabrication plant; the Chongqing facility serves as its major semiconductor packaging and testing base, helping expand global back-end production capacity for NAND flash memory.

While evaluating investment options for the Chongqing plant, SK Hynix continues to expand investments in its domestic South Korean operations. On Friday, the company announced plans to invest 54 trillion won (approximately $38 billion) to expand chip manufacturing facilities, including building a new DRAM production facility in Yongin and a NAND wafer fab in Cheongju.

SK Hynix stated that this investment aims to meet the growing memory demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) era. These moves suggest that the company may be simultaneously reconfiguring its ownership structure in China’s back-end processes while concentrating substantial capital expenditure on advanced memory production in South Korea—though there are currently no signs that a final decision has been made regarding the Chongqing plant review.