(ECNS) -- Goke Microelectronics and Loongson Technology jointly released China's first homegrown SSD controller chip "GK2302 series" in Beijing on Monday.

The two leading Chinese chip designers unveiled their agreement for strategic cooperation, pledging to use each other's products in future research and development.

The controller chip is powered by the homegrown processor Loongson, the brand name for China's first self-developed general purpose microprocessor.

Ni Guangnan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the controller chip plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of solid-state drive storage devices, and the fully homegrown technology means it can better prevent back doors or online attacks.

Ni said he hopes that Goke Microelectronics and Loongson Technology can strengthen cooperation and develop products with higher safety and better cost performance.

Industry insiders said the breakthrough could help protect the security of China's national information strategy and reduce the cost of imports.

Development of the first Loongson chip was started in 2001 by the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In 2010, the CAS and Beijing government jointly launched Loongson Technology with the goal of promoting the commercialization of the processors.