A 52-year-old Chinese man and Leuven resident was arrested at Brussels Airport on 11 May 2026 on suspicion of spying and passing on valuable information on semiconductor technologies to China.
The man was arrested before boarding his flight back to Beijing, as part of an investigation conducted by the East Flanders Federal Judicial Police, according to a statement by the Federal Public Prosecutor on Monday.
He was apprehended following allegations of espionage, participation in a criminal organisation, misappropriation of company assets and the unlawful disclosure of trade secrets.
The suspect previously held a managerial position in research at BelGan (formerly known as AMI Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor, respectively), a Belgian company based in Oudenaarde, East Flanders, which went bankrupt in July 2024, causing 400 workers to lose their jobs.
The company specialised in the production of gallium nitride semiconductors, with details of the case having emerged during the investigation into BelGan's bankruptcy.
"There are indications that the individual in question, who held a senior research position within the Belgian company, was simultaneously working as a director of a Chinese company engaged in a similar manufacturing activity, which was established a few months after he took up his post and was financed by a Chinese investment fund," the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
"The investigation could reveal the unlawful transfer abroad of specialised intellectual property and trade secrets relating to the production of gallium nitride chips, a technology used in particular in the electric vehicle, aeronautics and aerospace sectors, as well as in the military," it added.
This picture is made at the BelGaN chip factory in Oudenaarde pictured on Wednesday 12 March 2025. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
Several searches have been carried out as part of the investigation, with police seizing data storage devices and electronic communications which are being analysed. The man has been held in pre-trial detention at Oudenaarde prison since 11 May.
To date, a second suspect is still being sought in connection with this case, the federal Prosecutor’s office added.
Semiconductor technology is particularly valuable today, as it forms an essential part of modern electronics, powering smartphones, artificial intelligence, vehicles, clean energy systems and national defence hardware, among others.
Before it shut down and declared bankruptcy, BelGaN was Belgium’s only commercial microchip manufacturing plant.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office said on Monday it would refrain from making further comments as the investigation continues.
