UK Edition
The founder of the Chinese company that owns Britain’s biggest microchip plant was once handed a 17-month jail sentence over allegations he acquired stolen technology, The Telegraph can reveal.
In 2005, Zhang Xuezheng, known as Wing, was sentenced to a year and five months, according to local reports, following charges of buying trade secrets from ZTE, the Chinese technology giant.
Mr Zhang is the founder of Shanghai-based Wingtech and the chief executive of Nexperia, a Dutch subsidiary that acquired semiconductor plant Newport Wafer Fab in 2021.
Nexperia’s £63m acquisition of the Welsh factory has stoked fears of technology being transferred to China. Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary, ordered Nexperia to sell its majority stake in the facility on national security grounds in November.
The company is seeking a judicial review that could see it retain control of the plant.
A spokesman for Nexperia said the company was “aware of old press reports about a dispute in China” but said it was “later resolved allowing Mr Zhang to do business freely”.
According to the Chinese Procuratorial Daily, Mr Zhang recruited staff at ZTE, his former employer, to acquire technical secrets and develop rival products at three companies he had set up in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
A district court in Shenzhen sentenced Mr Zhang and his two co-conspirators to prison and handed him a 50,000 yuan (£6,000) fine.
More recent local profiles of Mr Zhang, whose net worth is estimated at $1.3bn by Forbes, point to gaps in his career history between 2004 and 2006, when he set up Wingtech.
Wingtech has become a major supplier to electronics companies and its shareholders include Chinese state-backed investors.
The company bought Nexperia, a Dutch chipmaker, in 2018. Mr Zhang was later appointed chief executive of the subsidiary.
Nexperia acquired Newport Wafer Fab in 2021 after the plant fell into financial difficulties.
After lengthy and delayed reviews, Mr Shapps used national security legislation to order Nexperia to sell the 86pc of Newport Wafer Fab it acquired in 2021. Nexperia has said it is shocked by the decision and has denied influence by the Chinese state. It has sought a judicial review and a ruling is expected later this year.
Western countries have gradually introduced controls on semiconductor technology being sold to China amid growing concerns about its use for surveillance or military purposes, and fears that local expertise and capacity is being hollowed out.
Drew Nelson, the former owner of Newport Wafer Fab, is believed to be seeking financial backing to buy back the facility.
Nexperia said: “Nexperia is aware of old press reports about a dispute in China that took place 20 years ago between Wing Zhang (now aged 48) and his previous employer, China’s state-owned ZTE Corporation, after he had left to start his first company. The dispute was later resolved allowing Mr Zhang to do business freely.
“Wingtech Technologies acquired Nexperia in 2019, after approval by the Foreign Direct Investment authorities in the relevant jurisdictions. Wing Zhang is founder and CEO of Wingtech (established in 2006) and currently owns approximately 15pc of Wingtech.”