Joint venture: Fiberhome Supermicro

At Datenna, our China experts continuously track and conduct detailed investigations into joint ventures established between European and Chinese entities located in China. Through a series of articles in our resource library, we highlight striking EU-China and US-China joint venture case studies, analysed based on Datenna's in-depth, unique data on China's techno-economic landscape. This article elaborates on the joint venture Fiberhome Supermicro, established by Fiberhome Telecommunications and the American-Dutch Supermicro B.V.

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Who Are the Parent Companies?

Supermicro Computer B.V.

Supermicro is a technology company founded and headquartered in the USA, specialising in server technology and innovation, and providing end-to-end green computing solutions to the data centre, cloud computing, enterprise IT, big data, and HPC industries. In 2018, it was ranked the 3rd largest server systems supplier in the world by the International Data Corporation (IDC). The company has many branches in Asia and Europe; one of them, Supermicro B.V., is located in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, and primarily deals with server sales.

Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd.

Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies is a Chinese company based in Wuhan, founded in 1999. It is a provider of information and communication network products and solutions, and at the time of publication ranks among the top ten most competitive companies in global optical communications. The company is highly influenced by the Chinese government — through multiple ownership layers, it is ultimately owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Blacklisted by the US Commerce Department

In May 2020, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security officially added Fiberhome to its Entity List of organisations subject to Export Administration Regulations. As a result, US companies are only permitted to do business with Fiberhome if they obtain a specific licence, which is subject to a presumption of denial — meaning such a licence is difficult to obtain.

The Joint Venture Between Supermicro and Fiberhome

In 2016, Supermicro B.V. and Fiberhome established the joint venture Fiberhome Supermicro, active as an IT product and solutions provider for public entities across telecommunications, security, transportation, finance, internet, education, healthcare, and other industries. The joint venture offers advantages to both parent companies: it facilitates Supermicro's access to the Chinese market, while granting Fiberhome access to the technology and know-how of the US company.

The ownership of the joint venture is far from equal — Supermicro holds 30% of shares while the Chinese counterpart holds the remaining 70%, resulting in significantly higher decision-making power for Fiberhome. This is especially relevant following a recent amendment to Chinese company law that shifts decision-making within joint ventures from the board to the shareholders.

Despite Fiberhome's blacklisting, the Dutch subsidiary continues to be an investor in the joint venture, which continues to produce servers for Fiberhome. The US Commerce Department's decision results mainly in a ban on direct sales of products to Fiberhome but has no effect on the underlying cooperation between the two companies.

The IT and Telecoms Sector: Strategic Priorities for China

Since the companies involved are active in the strategic sectors of IT and telecommunications, it is worth noting the political framework surrounding this field in China. These sectors are among the priority industries targeted under Made in China 2025 (MiC 2025) — China's strategic plan to become a global high-tech powerhouse by advancing technological and industrial capabilities and reducing dependence on foreign technology.

Cases like this one illustrate how the legal framework around joint ventures can present loopholes. Joint ventures may constitute exceptions to laws such as blacklistings, serving as a mechanism to avoid international sanctions or bypass export lists — allowing a sanctioned company to continue doing business and acquiring strategic knowledge from Western partners.