(Yicai Global) June 27 -- Fastprint Circuit Tech's shares gained by the daily trading limit after the Chinese semiconductor products maker laid out plans to build a integrated circuit substrate plant in the southern city of Guangzhou for about CNY3 billion (USD436.2 million.) 

Fastprint Circuit signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone yesterday to set up production lines for integrated circuit substrate and relevant products, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement. Investment in the plant, which is needed to both supply major global customers and meet China's future demand, will be made in two phases of CNY1.6 million and CNY1.4 billion.

The company's shares [SHE: 002436] jumped 10 percent today to end trading at CNY6.67 (97 US cents) each.

Fastprint Circuit has made the IC substrate business its future focus. Last September, it officially became a supplier to South Korean electronics giant Samsung. But the company's existing monthly output of 10,000 square meters of IC package substrate is already at full capacity and needs expanding, the statement said.

The firm will form a project company in the development zone that will handle construction and operations. The Guangzhou Development Zone Construction Development Group and the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund will also invest for a 30 percent stake in the new company. No other project details were provided.

Demand for IC substrate has grown rapidly in recent years, the statement said, citing data from Prismark, which expects the gross value of output to increase to about USD9.6 billion in 2023 from USD7.554 billion last year. But the global market is mainly dominated by businesses from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan due to the huge technical challenges.