An employee of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp works at the company's factory in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

China's integrated circuit or semiconductor microchip imports in the first eight months this year saw a steady increase with the rapid recovery of market demand.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Gao Feng, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said from January to August this year, China's total imports of integrated circuits reached 1.5 trillion ($219 billion) yuan, up 15.3 percent year-on-year, which is17.6 percentage points higher than China's overall imports.

The epidemic-induced changes have stimulated market demand for integrated circuits, such as work from home, e-learning and online medical services, which have boosted the demand for a range of products such as servers, personal computers, tablets, and medical electronics, Gao said.

In addition, the spokesperson noted that other factors, such as China's 5G network construction and enterprises' active stocking up and rising procurement, due to the impact of the epidemic on the supply chain, have also contributed to the hike of integrated circuit imports.

As a leading manufacturer of electronic products in the world, China has become the main driving force for the growth of the global semiconductor market, the ministry said.