Belga Share – Former top executive of bankrupt chip manufacturer Belgan suspected of espionage for China

The suspect is H.L., a 52-year-old man holding dual Belgian-Chinese nationality. L. worked as a senior manager in the research department at the now-bankrupt Belgan from Oudenaarde. According to De Standaard, he was arrested on 10 May as he was about to board a flight to Beijing.

Belgan went bankrupt in 2024 for purely economic reasons, or so it seemed at the time. However, investigators now suspect that the Chinese owners, who took over Belgan in 2021, were not interested in making Belgan a thriving company, but rather in smuggling technology to China.

Several months after becoming active at Belgan, L. also took on a managerial role at a Chinese company in China. That company — Gankool — was established shortly after Belgan came under Chinese ownership in 2021.

Gankool produced exactly the same technology as Belgan. There are indications that a scheme was set up to transfer Belgan’s specialised intellectual property and trade secrets to Gankool.

Furthermore, L. is not the only former Belgan executive appearing in the investigation. The last CEO of Belgan, the Chinese national Alan Zhen Zhou, is also believed to have played a role at Gankool. According to De Standaard and RTBF, Zhen Zhou is also wanted by Belgian authorities.

L. is suspected by the federal public prosecutor’s office of espionage, unlawful disclosure of trade secrets, membership of a criminal organisation, abuse of corporate assets, and bankruptcy offences. He is currently in pre-trial detention awaiting trial.

Dimitri de Beco, the lawyer representing H.L., stated in a reaction to De Standaard and RTBF that his client denies all allegations.

The initial translation of this content was generated by AI. All facts, context, and language have subsequently been verified and validated by a human editorial team.
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