Belgian bankruptcy dents Europe’s microchip dreams – POLITICO

The center-right member of the Flemish Parliament told POLITICO that BelGaN was being screened to determine whether it was eligible for support. One media report said it looked into whether the ownership had ties with the Chinese government.

The Flemish Economy Ministry declined to comment on the screening, saying it was confidential. BelGaN didn’t respond to POLITICO’s questions for this article.

As Europe dishes out billions in public subsidies for the sector, disbursing that support directly to Chinese-owned companies is, in general, “a little bit problematic,” said Frank Bösenberg, managing director of Silicon Saxony, a chips lobby group in the eastern German state.

Mixed track record

BelGaN was founded in the 1980s, as the northern region of Flanders sought to build itself into a microchips powerhouse. It was created around the same time as Imec, a chips R&D hub that has since become a global champion.

BelGaN’s track record is mixed, though. The company has changed hands many times; the last ownership change was in 2021 when two Hong Kong-based funds, Rockley and Wuxi Group, bought the firm from U.S.-based chipmaker Onsemi and put chips veteran Alan Zhen Zhou in place as CEO.

The company doubled down on a new production process, with chips based on gallium nitride instead of silicon. The technology could boost energy efficiency and tap into the white-hot market of electric cars.