Hsinchu, Taiwan, February 6, 2016 - UMC (TWSE: 2303, NYSE: UMC) today announced that the recent 6.4 magnitude earthquake recorded in southern Taiwan in the early hours of February 6th had limited impact to UMC's operations. All personell are safe at UMC facilities. The automatic safety measures at Fab 12A in Tainan, Taiwan did trigger an equipment shutdown that affected work-in-progress wafers; however, normal operations are resuming and wafer shipments will not be affected. UMC's Hsinchu fabs were not affected, and there will be no meaningful impact on UMC's business.

The Eco Echo Award is an extension of the UMC Eco-Echo Ecological Conservation Hope Project and provides awards for other conservation efforts after the Sauter’s Brown Frog Habitat Conservation Project. Starting in 2017, UMC will be rewarding prizes that total NT$ 1 million every year to support selected ecological conservation projects. Global Views Monthly magazine shall organize a review panel of judges whose members include experts and academics from Taiwan in the field of ecological conservation. Entries for the 1st Eco Echo Award shall be received from April to July and reviewed from August to October 2016. Announcements for the winning entries and the award ceremony have been scheduled for December 2016.

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC’s robust foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company’s sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include 28nm gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, ultra-low power platform processes specifically engineered for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the highest-rated AEC-Q11 Grade-0 automotive industry manufacturing capabilities. UMC’s 10 wafer fabs are located throughout Asia and are able to produce over 500,000 wafers per month. The company employs over 17,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

Note From UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statements and reports on Forms F-1, F-3, F-6 and 20-F and 6-K, in each case as amended. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.