Wingtech Technology, the Chinese tech company that owns Dutch semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia, has filed a civil lawsuit against Nexperia and five defendants for alleged damages worth CNY8 billion (approx. US$1.2 billion). The case is the latest development of the legal troubles between the Chinese company and its subsidiary following the Dutch government's seizure of the company in late 2025 for national security reasons.
Wingtech, which has experienced 11 consecutive days of limit-down trading, suddenly announced the litigation on May 23 just as its stock price had recovered slightly after its actual controller made an emergency increase in holdings.
The legal dispute dates back to September last year, when the Dutch government seized control of the company, which is headquartered in the Netherlands. Using the Goods Availability Act as the legal basis for its seizure, the government cited concerns that it was transferring technology and intellectual property to China. Nexperia then suspended Xuezheng Zhang as its CEO, who is also the founder of Wingtech.
The Dutch government later suspended its control of Nexperia in November 2025, followed by a court challenge filed by Wingtech against the Dutch government the same month and an investigation ordered by a Dutch court months later into mismanagement at Nexperia.
"We regret that Wingtech appears not to be interested at all in reaching a solution that would be beneficial to all stakeholders, including Wingtech's shareholders, and continue to urge Wingtech to engage in an open dialogue," said Nexperia in a statement, according to Reuters. The lawsuit will be overseen by a court in the Chinese city of Dongguan.
China Business Journal reported that due to the loss of control of Nexperia, Wingtech suffered a huge loss of over CNY8.7 billion last year. The firm was designated as a special treatment stock – a designation in Chinese stock exchanges that a company is at risk of delisting due to abnormal situations – and its market value of over CNY100 billion has shrunk rapidly to CNY20 billion.
Industry insiders point out that this legal counterattack is not only an attempt to regain control of core assets but is also perceived as a desperate gamble by Wingtech to avoid being delisted. Meanwhile, the Nexperia incident has served as a wake-up call for the Chinese semiconductor industry that the era of acquiring core technologies is over. In the future, Chinese companies may be more cautious about going global and gradual shifting from acquiring capital to pursuing greenfield investments and secure supply chains.
Auditing troubles and delisting risks
Back in 2019, Wingtech had spent over CNY30 billion to acquire Nexperia, setting a record for the largest overseas acquisition in China's semiconductor industry at the time, and it became a core profit driver for the parent company. However, after the Dutch government seized Nexperia, Wingtech lost control of its Dutch assets.
This loss of control meant that Wingtech's auditors were unable to obtain financial documents and IT working papers of the frozen overseas entities, according to China Business Journal, leading its 2025 annual report to receive a disclaimer of opinion. This then prompted China's stock exchanges to label the company with an "*ST", a delisting warning, starting in May of this year.
This Chinese lawsuit for CNY8 billion in damages is interpreted by the market as a move by Wingtech to clear the way forward in response to the disclaimer of opinion, and also to avoid being delisted. The company in the lawsuit cited China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law as its core legal basis. While the six defendants are overseas and may not appear in court, the court may claim the right to conduct a trial in absentia and render a judgment.
A ruling in Wingtech's favor could see all the equity of Nexperia's subsidiaries in China transferred to Wingtech, which could clarify ownership of its domestic assets and clear up its financial boundaries before its next annual report. Even if it cannot reclaim its foreign assets, this could allow for an audit of the company without the disclaimer of opinion and avoid a possible delisting.
Given the cross-jurisdictional nature of the case, it is unlikely that Wingtech could see its overseas assets returned to it, and it remains to be seen if this will be enough to keep the company on the stock exchange. However, the case could become a reference point for the application of China's anti-foreign sanctions law and the geopolitical risks that Chinese companies could face when they expand abroad.
Article edited by Jack Wu