Belgian Chip Executive Arrested for Espionage on Behalf of China
The former head of research at BelGaN, Belgium’s last industrial chip manufacturer, has been arrested on charges of espionage for China, in a case that exposes a sophisticated pattern of technology theft through Chinese mirror companies. The 52-year-old man with dual Belgian-Chinese nationality was detained on May 10 at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport while attempting to board a flight to Beijing, and has remained in pre-trial detention since, as VRT NWS reported.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the investigation, which centers on the alleged unlawful transfer of specialized intellectual property and trade secrets related to gallium nitride (GaN) chip production to a Chinese company called Gankool. The suspect, identified only as H.L., faces charges of espionage, participation in a criminal organization, abuse of corporate assets, and unlawful disclosure of trade secrets.
The Fall of BelGaN
BelGaN was based in Oudenaarde, East Flanders, on a site established more than 40 years ago as MIETEC, which grew into a flagship of Flemish technology. The company was the last industrial chip producer in Belgium, specializing in innovative gallium nitride chips — technology used in electric vehicles, aerospace, and military applications. GaN semiconductors are considered strategically important, and the sector has been designated as strategic by the European Union.
The company’s troubles began when it encountered financial difficulties in 2021 and was taken over by a consortium of Chinese investors through investment funds based in Hong Kong. The acquisition was announced in February 2022, with Alan Zhen Zhou installed as the new CEO, who spoke of creating a “GaN-valley in Europe.”
In July 2024, BelGaN filed for bankruptcy, putting approximately 440 workers out of work. The company said it had sought additional investments without success. But investigators now suspect the bankruptcy was not simply a business failure — rather, that the Chinese owners were never interested in reviving the company, but in extracting its technology.
The Mirror Company: Gankool
According to investigators, a suspicious pattern emerged shortly after the Chinese takeover. Several months after the acquisition of BelGaN, a company called Gankool was established in China’s Fujian province, producing exactly the same technology as BelGaN and financed by a Chinese investment fund.
H.L., who held a leading research function at BelGaN, allegedly also held a leadership position at Gankool. At a March 2023 conference in China, he was presented as Gankool’s director, appearing as a keynote speaker alongside Alan Zhen Zhou — the CEO of BelGaN itself. Yet his LinkedIn profile made no mention of the Chinese company, despite detailing his career history up to that point.
“The investigation possibly points to the unlawful transfer of specialized intellectual property and trade secrets regarding the production of gallium nitride chips abroad,” the Federal Prosecutor’s Office stated. “There are indications that the person concerned, who held a leading research position, was simultaneously active as a director of a Chinese company with similar production activities.”
Prosecutors are also searching for a second suspect: Alan Zhen Zhou, the last CEO of BelGaN, who is suspected of involvement in the same scheme.
Before joining BelGaN, H.L. had worked for years at imec, the world-renowned nanoelectronics research center in Leuven. Imec confirmed to VRT NWS that judicial authorities had contacted them about an investigation into a former employee, adding that the center is fully cooperating while declining further comment while the investigation is ongoing.
A Known Pattern of Chinese Technology Acquisition
The tactics allegedly used in the BelGaN case are not unfamiliar to Belgian security services. The State Security Service (VSSE) explicitly warned about this pattern in its latest annual report, as Dutch IT Channel noted.
“China realizes that in some very specific areas it still has a technological disadvantage compared to Europe and the US,” the VSSE report states. “Closing that gap — and building a strategic advantage — is the absolute top priority for the Chinese regime.”
The report describes the mirror company strategy in detail: Chinese companies invest in Belgian companies, research centers, or spin-offs — preferably smaller entities developing promising technologies but struggling with insufficient funding. This gives them access to the technology. They then establish a mirror company in China that produces the same technology on a larger scale, and the original company is subsequently sold off again, if possible at a profit.
The VSSE also warned earlier this year about Chinese interference in sectors including biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors, calling on companies and universities to be aware of the risks of illegal technology transfers. The case comes amid growing European concerns about Chinese industrial espionage, with similar incidents reported across the continent.
Defense Challenges Espionage Classification
H.L. remains in detention but contests all charges, according to his lawyer Dimitri de Beco. The defense argues that even if the facts were proven, they could not be classified as espionage under Belgian law, which requires the transfer of secrets related to national security to a foreign state.
“Even if the facts were considered proven, they cannot be qualified as espionage,” de Beco told VRT NWS. “In that case it would concern the unlawful disclosure of trade secrets.” The lawyer maintains that his client is no longer held specifically on suspicion of espionage, and that the case falls under economic law rather than espionage statutes.
Multiple searches have been conducted as part of the investigation, with computer equipment and electronic communications seized and currently under analysis. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has emphasized that the technology in question is precise and specialized, with applications in electric vehicles, the space sector, and military domains.
A New Chapter for the Oudenaarde Site
While the espionage case unfolds, the former BelGaN site in Oudenaarde has found a new purpose. Thema Foundries, a Ghent-based company, took over the facility in 2025 for approximately 20 million euros, investing over 200 million euros to transform it into what it calls Europe’s first full-scale production and services center for integrated photonics. The new venture could create up to 500 jobs, as VRT NWS reported.
The BelGaN case raises significant questions about the vulnerability of European strategic technology sectors to foreign acquisition tactics. As the investigation continues and the legal proceedings unfold, the case may serve as a cautionary tale for European companies operating in strategically important technology fields — and a test of whether existing legal frameworks can adequately address the growing threat of industrial espionage through mirror company schemes.
What remains to be seen is whether the espionage charges against H.L. will withstand legal scrutiny, whether Alan Zhen Zhou will be apprehended, and what broader implications this case may have for European efforts to protect critical technologies from foreign exploitation.