The Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed an export ban on Nexperia, following the Dutch government’s intervention in the company’s management.

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The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has imposed an export ban on Nexperia after the Dutch government intervened, replacing the company’s CEO and limiting its decision-making.

This action has increased tensions between the Netherlands and China over technology security.

Nexperia is in discussions with Chinese authorities to seek an exemption and is collaborating with national and local governments to reduce any negative effects.

What happened?

A couple of days back, the Dutch government invoked the Goods Availability Act to take control of Netherlands-based Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia, citing governance flaws and national security risks.

This order restricted Nexperia from relocating company assets, dismissing executives, or making major operational decisions without prior government approval for one year.

The announcement came to protect economic security in the Netherlands and Europe by ensuring the continued availability of semiconductor products.

Following an emergency hearing on October 7, 2025, the court also suspended Zhang Xuezheng from his role as CEO of Nexperia.

Court documents indicate that the Chamber of Commerce had valid concerns about Xuezheng’s actions, reports NOS.nl.

For example, Xuezheng placed a multi-million dollar order on behalf of Nexperia with the Chinese company WSS, in which he also has a stake, and the court ruled that this order was unnecessary.

Furthermore, the court found that the former CEO took away banking authorisations from essential financial executives last September.

He then assigned banking tasks to individuals without financial expertise, including someone who had not even begun working at Nexperia, adds the report.

The Enterprise Chamber decided that most voting rights for Nexperia shares, held indirectly by Wingtech, are now managed by an independent administrator appointed by the Chamber.

In the interim, CFO Stefan Tilger will assume the role of Acting CEO, while Achim Kempe continues as COO and Ruben Lichtenberg as CLO and statutory director of both Nexperia Holding B.V. and Nexperia.

The Enterprise Chamber has also appointed Guido Dierick as Non-Executive Director.

On September 29, 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added export restrictions for companies that are majority-owned by those on the U.S. Entity List. Nexperia is affected because it is owned by Wingtech Technology, which was listed last December.

Nexperia is working to keep its operations running smoothly and is using the 60-day grace period from BIS to find a solution.