China is going to invest an additional $1.9 billion in the country’s biggest maker of memory chips. According to a government website, the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Ltd. will commit 12.9 billion yuan towards Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. The capital infusion from the Big Fund, as Beijing’s signature investment vehicle is commonly known, was slated for completion on Jan, 31.

The scale of the investment suggests Beijing is again powering up spending on its beleaguered chip industry, which is struggling to circumvent US curbs on technology while grappling with slumping global demand. The Yangtze Memory deal marks the fund’s most significant industry investment in months. Senior leaders — frustrated by the lack of progress in developing local chip alternatives — launched a sweeping corruption campaign in 2022 that took down senior officials and several executives linked to the Big Fund. The economy is now bouncing back, potentially relieving government finances strained by the years-long Covid Zero effort.

Hubei-based YMTC is one of only a handful of domestic chipmakers within striking range of the global leaders, competing with South Korean giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. to provide memory chips for applications from smartphones to data center servers. The firm was placed last year on Washington’s lengthening US trade blacklists.

Founded in 2014, it drew about $45 billion in capital and backed scores of companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and YMTC. The fund operated mostly behind the scenes and kept investment standards away from public view.