Former Huawei executive sentenced to 6 years for stealing chip technology.

In recent days, a court ruling on a case involving the theft of core chip technology secrets has caused a shock in the industry. On July 28, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment on the case of Zunpai Communication Technology Co., Ltd. infringing on trade secrets. The case, involving core chip technology, a complete criminal chain, and significant social impact, was designated as a case under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Security. The court ultimately found 14 former Huawei employees guilty of committing trade secret infringement, with the main culprit, Zhang, sentenced to six years in prison and fined 3 million RMB. Four others received actual prison sentences, while the remaining nine were given probation. The total fine imposed on all defendants was 13.5 million RMB. In addition, the court ordered the freezing of 95 million RMB worth of assets belonging to Zunpai and its affiliated companies, and demanded the destruction of all infringing chip technology materials. It is understood that the stolen chip was a strategic project developed by Huawei over three years at a cost of over ten billion RMB, carrying the company's competitive advantage in the next generation of wireless communication standards. The theft of this core technology has resulted in significant losses.