China Guanggu said on Sept. 30 Hubei Xingchen Technology Co.'s Phase II advanced packaging pilot platform in Optics Valley entered production, launching the country's first 3D advanced packaging mass-production line and marking a concrete step toward domestic autonomy in high-end chip advanced packaging.

CITIC Securities says thermal management for optical modules is shifting from a supporting component to a performance-determining factor as 800G volumes scale and 1.6T enters its initial volume year, raising per-module power and temperature-precision requirements. Thermal solutions are evolving into a three-tier stack: chip-level precise temperature control (Micro-TEC plus ceramic-substrate heatsink), interface heat conduction (TIM gels and graphene pads), and module-level heat spreading (VC spreaders/cold plates). Per-module thermal content and pricing are rising with speed upgrades, and CPO/NPO architectures that colocate optical engines and switching ASICs increase same-domain cooling demand, supporting simultaneous volume and price growth across the supply chain. Core components such as TECs and ceramic substrates have been dominated by Japanese suppliers; domestic Chinese players are accelerating breakthroughs, leaving substantial onshore substitution potential. CITIC highlights three investment themes: TECs and ceramic substrates; TIMs and graphene thermal materials; and VC spreaders plus liquid-cooling structural parts.

South Korea August industrial production YoY -2.2% (expected +4.0%); prior reading revised from 3.6% to 4.0%.