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December 24,2004

Asyst Shinko's Chinese Subsidiary Now in Full Operation

Asyst Shinko Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (Headquarters: Shanghai Wai Gao Qiao Free Trade Zone, President: Kenzaburo Sato, Established: April 4, 2003), a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary of Asyst Shinko, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku Tokyo, President: Hitoshi Kawano) commenced full sales and service operations in October 2004.

In the growing Chinese economy, a rapid and extensive expansion of the semiconductor and liquid crystal production bases is taking place. Each Chinese city is proactively investing and the vigorous luring of investments is also accelerating. Since supplying the first automatic transportation system for semiconductors in Shanghai in the late ‘90s, Asyst Shinko has established a solid reputation and record of achievements. In September 2004, Asyst Shinko supplied a transportation system to the first 300mm factory in China. Our transportation systems are also operating in many 200mm semiconductor and liquid crystal display factories.

In order to provide a stable supply of Asyst Shinko’s transportation systems to existing customers in China and to promptly handle new projects that are being announced one after another, Asyst Shinko opened its 100% wholly-owned subsidiary, Asyst Shinko Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, to provide full sales and service operations.

To boost customer satisfaction for our transportation system users, the Shanghai office will serve as a focal point for support staff education and maintenance services. The office will provide superior training for local engineers and will dispatch support to our customers’ production sites. The Shanghai office will also be filling a very important role as the base for Asyst Shinko’s sales activities in China. They will provide timely product information in response to inquiries from semiconductor and liquid crystal manufacturers. We expect the Shanghai office to function as our domestic base for production and procurement in China.

As the leader in the Automated Material Handling Systems market in China, Asyst Shinko has placed its principal base in Shanghai as it strives for further success in the Chinese market.