The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology vowed to further strengthen policies to guide development of carbon-based materials, as part of its concerted efforts to support chip innovation and development, according to a statement on Tuesday.

Carbon-based materials can be a good substitute for silicon-based semiconductor materials. Chips produced with carbon-based materials are faster in processing data and more energy-efficient. The materials can also be used in numerous fields such as weather monitoring, artificial intelligence and medical equipment.

According to the statement, the ministry will include carbon-based materials in the 14th Five-Year Plan raw material development plan, and include silicon carbide and carbon matrix composites into the 14th Five-Year Plan industrial technological innovation development plan, in order to support the industry to tackle technology barriers to improve product quality and promote modernization of industrial chains.