Abstract:    The integrated circuit (IC) industry plays an important role in supporting the economic and social development and national security, but the reality of strict foreign technology blockade and insufficient competitiveness of domestic products makes it difficult for China to break the stranglehold of foreign countries on some key industrial fields. Therefore, China has invested a lot of resources over the years and constantly explored suitable system of science, technology and innovation for the IC industry, which can provide many valuable experiences and lessons. In addition, because the IC industry has the characteristics of fast technology iteration, subdivided industrial division and diverse market demands, the analysis of its domestic substitution path can enrich the research on complex technology catch-up issues. In this regard, from the perspective of dynamic catch-up involving multi-dimensional changes in the industry, this paper conducted a longitudinal case study on the domestic substitution path of China′s IC industry, revealing the situation, important characteristics and driving factors of each catch-up stage. The research found that in the different contexts of technology blockade intensity and marketization degree during the different periods, the domestic substitution is driven by different combinations of the roles of the government and the market, and it follows the path from light asset to heavy asset sectors, from low-end to high-end markets, and from complete machine integration to core component localization. Furthermore,considering the experiences and the lessons learned from each stage of the path and the current situation of China, this paper has also explored the new type of national system for the IC industry, and put forward some policy suggestions that will help promote the domestic substitution. 

Key words: integrated circuit (IC), domestic substitution, technology catch-up, case study, Chinese-style innovation