A New York man has been sentenced to two years in prison for planning to steal General Electric company trade secrets and give them to China.
As announced by the US Department of Justice, Xiaoqing Zheng of Niskayuna, New York was convicted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage after a four-week trial that ended in March of last year.
He was also fined $7,500 and ordered to serve an additional year of probation after completing his prison term.
US officials have said the Chinese government represents the biggest long-term threat to the US economy and national security, and that it is making unprecedented efforts to steal vital technology from US businesses and scientists. China denies these allegations.
Zheng was employed at General Electric Company’s headquarters in Schenectady as an engineer specializing in turbine technology. He worked for GE from 2008 to summer 2018.
According to evidence presented at trial, Zheng and others in China conspired to steal GE’s trade secrets related to turbine technology for aircraft and land-based facilities to give to China, Chinese companies and universities that make research work and manufacture turbine parts.
“It is a classic case of economic espionage. Zheng abused the trust placed in him, betrayed his employer and conspired with the Chinese government to steal innovative American technology,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, who heads the national security division at the US Department of Justice.
The United States indicted a former engineer and another Chinese entrepreneur named Zhaoxi Zhang in 2019 for stealing secrets and espionage at General Electric for China’s benefit. At the time, Zheng had pleaded not guilty.
A federal court in Cincinnati sentenced a Chinese national in November to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of conspiring to steal trade secrets from several American aviation and aeronautics companies.
