This week we're discussing Cambricon Technologies (寒武纪科技).
It’s one of China's hottest tech companies right now. Many people outside of China hadn't heard of it until recently. Inside China, it's described by some as "China's Nvidia."
In August, Cambricon went from a loss-making startup to China's most valuable stock, briefly surpassing Kweichow Moutai (贵州茅台) to become the new "stock king" (股王) of China’s A-share market. Its stock price doubled in August, surging from 709 yuan to nearly 1,600 yuan at its peak, closing at 1,492 yuan by the end of the month.
This dramatic rise came after the company became profitable for the first time.
On 27 August, Cambricon said it made 2.88 billion yuan in revenue in the first half of 2025 — a year-on-year increase of over 4,300%. Its net profit reached over 1 billion yuan, compared to a 533 million yuan loss in the previous year.
The Beijing-based AI chip maker was founded in 2016 by two brothers, Chen Yunji (陈云霁) and Chen Tianshi (陈天石).
They both hold PhDs in computer science. They completed their doctorates by age 24, and worked as professors at the Institute of Computing Technology in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, 中科院).
With support from CAS, they developed a prototype deep learning processor in 2015 and then spun out the project as an independent company in 2016.
Their plan was to develop brain-inspired processor chips for deep learning.
That was a relatively far-fetched idea at the time, but the name of the company suggests its founders had massive ambitions from the start.
The Chinese name of the company is 寒武纪 which translates to "Cambrian Period" — the geological era 540 million years ago when life on earth exploded in diversity. The English name, Cambricon, is a combination of "Cambrian" and "silicon" (the main material chips are made of).
So the founders believed their AI chip technology would eventually catalyse an explosion in the diversification of AI.
Major tech investors in China believed in this vision. So by June 2018, Cambricon had achieved a $2.5 billion valuation, becoming one of China's most valuable AI startups, backed by the likes of Alibaba Group, Lenovo, and iFlytek.
In July 2020, it went public on Shanghai's STAR Market, raising 2.8 billion yuan ($400 million) as China's "first-listed AI stock" (中国人工智能第一股).
However, the company remained loss-making for years. Investors criticised Cambricon as being the best at "telling a good story and burning cash" (最烧钱、最会讲故事), giving slick presentations (讲PPT的人), but being the worst at actually making money.
Then everything began to change in 2024.
Cambricon became China's top-performing stock with a 383% gain in that year. It was driven by China's "domestic substitution" (国产替代) push, which was a response to US chip bans and China’s security concerns over using foreign-made chips.
Cambricon was perfectly positioned to meet this accelerated demand for homegrown AI technology. The company was facing what Chinese entrepreneurs call a “wind vent” (风口) opportunity: the next big thing.
Related
But there’s still a concern among some investors that this rapid increase in the company’s stock price is driven by emotion, rather than meaningful metrics.
So this has led to entertaining wordplay among Chinese investors and in the media.
Well-known sayings have been adapted to reflect their cynicism, which anyone in China would immediately “get”, but may trip up language learners.
So here are my three favourite new phrases you need to know:
1. "Shift from liquor to chips" (喜芯厌酒)
This is a new version of the idiom, "like the new, hate the old" (喜新厌旧), meaning "fickle" or “unfaithful”.
However, in this new version the character for "new" (新) is replaced by "chip" (芯), which sounds exactly the same. And "old" (旧) becomes "alcohol" (酒), which sounds the same but with a different tone.
This creates a new idiom which basically means: "like chips, hate alcohol."
We translate it as "shift from liquor to chips."
It captures recent investor sentiment of favouring semiconductor stocks (Cambricon) while shunning traditional alcohol companies (Moutai).
"Fueled by investor's shift from liquor to chips, Cambricon is crowned the new king on the capital markets."
在资本市场喜芯厌酒情绪托举下，寒武纪摇身变新王。
But, as with the original idiom, there’s a suggestion that this shift is fickle and short-lived.
2. "Rising without restraint" (涨无忌)
This is a totally new phrase which plays on Cambricon's similar-sounding Chinese name (寒武纪).
And the name, Zhang Wuji (张武纪), which also sounds similar to both.
Zhang Wuji is the protagonist of Jin Yong's iconic martial arts novel, "Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber." He is a revered all-powerful, cult leader with a devoted following.
In this wordplay the characters in Zhang's name are replaced with similar-sounding ones which mean something different: "Zhang" (张) becomes "rise" (涨), while "Wuji" (武纪) becomes "without restraint" (无忌).
This suggests investors are behaving like obsessed followers who believe Cambricon can defy market reality.
The current Cambricon cannot truly "rise without restraint."
But if we put this in a martial arts context, many people are indeed valuing Cambricon with the mindset of "Ming Cult followers crowning Zhang Wuji."
当下的寒武纪，并不能「涨无忌」——涨得无所忌惮。但若是代入武侠语境中，许多人确实是在用「明教教众为张无忌加冕」的思维为寒武纪估值。
It's a cryptic way of saying the stock's valuation is driven more by hype than fundamentals, which even the founders of the cpmpany agree with.
3. "Surpass Micron and catch up with Nvidia" (超美赶英)
This four-character phrase parodies Mao's 1950’s Great Leap Forward slogan: "surpass Britain, catch up with America" (超英赶美), flipping it to "surpass America, catch up with Britain" (超美赶英).
But… in this new phrase there is no America or Britain.
The same characters for those countries instead refer to the first Chinese character in the Chinese names of American chip companies:
美 from America is Micron (美光)
英 from UK means Nvidia (英伟达)
It’s mocking the overhyped investor expectations of how Cambricon will somehow suddenly leapfrog these industry giants, which is still an impossibility in the short-term.
While some are still calculating 'how many AMDs Cambricon is behind Nvidia,' others have already created an atmosphere suggesting Cambricon is about to 'surpass Micron and catch up with Nvidia.'
就目前看，太多人说是把寒武纪当「中国英伟达」看，实则将寒武纪往「另一个暴风科技」上推。在部分人还在盘算「寒武纪跟英伟达还差多少个AMD」时，他们已经烘托出寒武纪就要「超美（美光）赶英（英伟达）」的氛围了。
But maybe the use of this old political slogan about China overtaking Western powers could also hint to the future of global AI tech. After all, Cambricon, a Chinese company, might eventually “catch up with Nvidia” (赶英).
Or it could just be another round of sentiment-driven hype in China's markets.
So that’s what we’re discussing this week!
Favourite Five
1. 股王 gǔ wáng
stock king, top stock
寒武纪股价最高涨到1500多元，一度超越贵州茅台成为新一代股王 - Cambricon’s stock once surged past 1,500 yuan, briefly overtaking Kweichow Moutai as China’s top stock. [1]
2. 炸裂 zhà liè
explosive, phenomenal
寒武纪发布了堪称“炸裂”的业绩——2025年中报显示，公司上半年实现营业收入28.81亿元，同比增长4347.82% - Cambricon released what could only be described as phenomenal results—its 2025 interim report showed revenue of 2.881 billion yuan in the first half, a year-on-year growth of 4347.82%. [4]
3. 涨无忌 zhǎng wú jì
rise without restraint
当下的寒武纪，并不能「涨无忌」——涨得无所忌惮 - At present, Cambricon cannot do a ‘Zhang Wuji’—rise without restraint. [6]
4. 喜芯厌酒 xǐ xīn yàn jiǔ
shift from liquor to chips
在资本市场「喜芯厌酒」情绪托举下，寒武纪摇身变新王 - Fueled by investor’s shift from liquor to chips, Cambricon is crowned the new king on the capital markets. [6]
More: learn more about this phrase in tomorrow’s Sinica Phrase of the Week.
Related:
芯皇登基 xīn huáng dēng jī – the chip emperor ascends the throne (from 新皇登基)
5. 国产替代 guó chǎn tì dài
domestic substitution
寒武纪作为国内AI芯片的龙头企业，就将成为国产化替代的最大受益者 - As a leading AI chip company in China, Cambricon will be the biggest beneficiary of domestic substitution. [1]
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we go deep into phrases meaning “opportunity” which if translated literally, make no sense!
“Wind vent” (风口)
“Ride the east wind” (乘东风)
“Close to the water pavilion” (近水楼台)
Tune in at 8 minutes to understand what they really mean, how they are different, how native speakers use them, and how you can use them in real conversations.
Consuming the Conversation
Tired of learning Mandarin from textbooks?
Every RTM post unlocks the language and cultural insights you need to get fluent through immersion in breaking news and trending discussions across the Chinese-speaking world.
This week: Master essential phrases about entrepreneurship, opportunity, and taking big bets.
Ready to finally bridge the gap to real-world fluency?
Let’s jump in👇
Useful words
6. 风口 fēng kǒu
outlet, critical opportunity
作为国产人工智能芯片的龙头，多年耕耘的寒武纪终于迎来了风口 - As a leader in domestic AI chips, Cambricon has finally caught a critical opportunity after years of hard work. [1]
7. 泡沫 pào mò
bubble
随着寒武纪股价超越茅台，股价泡沫的争议也越来越大 - As Cambricon’s stock price surpassed Moutai, debates about a stock price bubble grew louder. [1]
8. 追捧 zhuī pěng
chase after, seek enthusiastically
这些公司的股票也最受投资者追捧 - These companies’ stocks are also the most sought after by investors. [1]
9. 赛道 sài dào
track, field (industry sector)
过去几年，国产AI芯片赛道并不缺玩家 - In recent years, the domestic AI chip sector has never lacked players. [2]
10. 押注 yā zhù
place a bet, stake
它也讲过很多PPT，试图同时押注多个方向 - Cambricon has also told many stories, attempting to place bets on multiple sectors at the same time. [2]
Related:
豪赌 háo dǔ - high-stakes gamble
Three-character phrases
11. 风向标 fēng xiàng biāo
weathervane, indicator
寒武纪股价狂飙，究竟是一场资本狂欢，还是代表了A股走势的历史性风向标？ - As Cambricon’s stock price skyrockets, is this merely a bout of market frenzy or the next big signal for China’s A-shares? [1]
12. 护城河 hù chéng hé
moat, competitive barrier
寒武纪在刚刚实现盈利之际，就选择将利润继续投入扩张，以加固技术护城河、扩大算力版图 - Cambricon chose to reinvest its first profits into expansion, strengthening their tech moat and their computing power. [2]
