December 18, 2003 – NEC Corp. has bought out its 60-40 chip-design joint venture with Beijing Huahong Integrated Circuit Design Co., turning it into a wholly-owned subsidiary, according to the Nikkei Business Daily. The majority of Beijing Huahong NEC IC Design Co.’s orders came from NEC, which wants to have 90% of the unit’s business sourced domestically by 2008.