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🇧🇪 Belgium /Technology

Former Executive of Bankrupt Belgian Chipmaker Jailed on Suspicion of Spying for China

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • A former BelGaN executive identified as H.L. has been detained in Belgium on suspicion of espionage, involvement in a criminal organization and sharing business secrets.
  • Investigators suspect he may have transferred technology related to gallium nitride chips to Gankool, a Chinese company producing the same technology.
  • The case followed BelGaN’s bankruptcy in 2024, after the company had been acquired by a Chinese investor consortium and 440 employees lost their jobs.

A former senior executive of the bankrupt Belgian chipmaker BelGaN is in jail on suspicion of spying for China. Belgian federal prosecutors confirmed reports by RTBF and De Standaard that H.L. may have passed business secrets about gallium nitride chip production to a Chinese counterpart.

Authorities detained H.L. at Brussels Airport on May 10 as he was preparing to fly back to Beijing. The 52-year-old, who holds Belgian and Chinese nationality, faces suspicions of espionage, involvement in a criminal organization, misuse of corporate assets and unlawfully sharing business secrets.

The investigation began after BelGaN collapsed in Oudenaarde in the summer of 2024. The company had sought additional investment but failed to secure it, leaving 440 employees without jobs. The bankruptcy raised suspicions because Chinese investors had acquired BelGaN several years earlier.

a chance to start a GaN valley in Europe

· Alan Zhou ZhenBelGaN’s new chief executive made the remark after the company was acquired by a Chinese investor consortium.

Investigators suspect the investors may have been interested not in reviving the company but in obtaining its secrets. BelGaN had been founded more than 40 years ago as MIETEC and became a flagship of Flemish technology. It was Belgium’s last industrial chip producer and specialized in gallium nitride chips, used in electric vehicles, aerospace and military applications.

A consortium of Chinese investors acquired the struggling company in February 2022. Its new chief executive, Alan Zhou Zhen, said he saw an opportunity to create a “GaN valley in Europe.” Several months later, Gankool was established in China’s Fujian province to produce the same technology as BelGaN. H.L. held a senior research role at BelGaN and was presented as a senior figure at Gankool. RTBF and De Standaard reported that he appeared as Gankool’s director and keynote speaker at a 2023 conference alongside Zhou.

The investigation may concern the unlawful transfer abroad of specialized intellectual property and business secrets relating to the production of gallium nitride chips.

· Belgian federal prosecutor’s officeThe prosecutor’s office described the suspected transfer of technology at the center of the investigation.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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