Chipmaker SMIC's founder-CEO steps down

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's largest contract chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), said Tuesday its long-serving CEO had stepped down, China Daily reported Wednesday.

The resignation of Richard Chang, the company's founder, came shortly after the Shanghai-based chip maker said it would pay rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), 200 million U.S. dollars as part of a deal to settle a long-running legal dispute.

However, the newspaper offered no details about the resignation.

The company last month reported its third quarter loss widened to 69.3 million as the global recession damped chip demand.

Chang would be replaced by David Wang, a 63-year-old director at Solar Fun Power Holdings, the newspaper said.