SMIC requested a halt in the trading of its stock "pending the release of price sensitive information," according to . The company did not return requests for comment on reasons for the request.

SMIC is the fourth-largest contract chip maker behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and GlobalFoundries.

Around 58 percent of SMIC's shareholders voted for Wang to be removed from the board, . Wang was appointed the company's CEO in November 2009 after former CEO and founder Richard Chang left the company to pursue personal interests.

SMIC returned to profitability under Wang after many years of losing money. However, the company is continuing to struggle in the wake of competition from larger companies such as TSMC, said Bill McClean, president of IC Insights.

It is hard to tell why Wang was being voted off the board, but there may be some concerns about the company's performance, McClean said.