Chinese Intelligence Officer Convicted for Attempting to Steal Trade Secrets

Yanjun Xu, a Chinese national and intelligence officer, was convicted by jury of conspiring and attempting to carry out economic espionage and trade secret theft, the Department of Justice said Nov. 5. Xu served as the deputy division director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, and is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, DOJ said. Xu faces two counts of attempting to commit economic espionage, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, along with one count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted trade secret theft, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In December 2013, Xu set his sights on multiple U.S. aviation companies. Xu recruited experts from these companies to travel to China, where he then attempted to steal technology information from them. According to court documents, he attempted to steal information relating to GE Aviation's composite aircraft engine fan. Xu was arrested in 2018 in Belgium after agreeing to meet with a GE Aviation employee there to further discuss plans for the engine fan.

"This conviction of a card-carrying intelligence officer for economic espionage underscores that trade secret theft is integral [to the Chinese government’s] plans to modernize its industries,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ's National Security Division. “But this conviction also serves notice that the United States will not sit by as China, or any other nation-state, attempts to steal instead of researching and developing key technology. Instead, and with the support of our allies, we will continue to investigate, prosecute, and hold accountable those who try to take the fruits of American ingenuity illegally.”