TL;DRWingtech Technology has sued its subsidiary Nexperia in a Chinese court, seeking at least 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in damages over the Dutch government’s seizure of the chipmaker. The lawsuit invokes China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, making it a test case for how Chinese companies can push back against Western semiconductor restrictions.
Wingtech Technology has filed a lawsuit against its own subsidiary, Nexperia, in a Chinese court. The case, lodged at the Dongguan Intermediate People’s Court, seeks at least 8 billion yuan, roughly $1.1 billion, in damages. It is the first major legal challenge to a European government’s forced seizure of a Chinese-owned chipmaker.
The dispute centres on the Dutch government’s decision in October 2025 to take control of Nexperia, a semiconductor manufacturer based in Nijmegen that Wingtech acquired in 2019. The Netherlands invoked its Goods Availability Act, a Cold War-era law from 1952, citing “serious governance shortcomings” and threats to European economic security. Wingtech’s chairman was immediately suspended from all Nexperia board roles.
The seizure was the first time a European government had forcibly taken control of a Chinese-owned technology company. The Netherlands said Nexperia’s high-volume chip production, which supplies automotive, consumer electronics, and industrial customers across Europe, was too strategically important to leave under Chinese governance.
