BEIJING - The Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's largest integrated circuit foundry, plans to set up a fund with related parties to focus on equity investment in semiconductors and related industries.

The fund will total about 1.616 billion yuan ($254.5 million), with around half the money coming from China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co. (CICIIF).

The CICIIF is a State-owned fund set up in 2014 to prop up the value chain of the integrated circuit industry, which involves chip design, production, packaging and testing.

The new fund will invest in selected companies operating in semiconductors and related industries to develop China's integrated circuit industry ecosystem and explore potential business opportunities in the sector.