Dutch Government in Contact With Beijing Over Nexperia Stand-Off

The Dutch government has made contact with Beijing to resolve a stand-off between the two countries over Chinese chipmaker Nexperia, the country’s Economic Affairs Minister Vincent Karremans said on Tuesday.

The Chinese communist regime blocked exports of Nexperia’s products from China after the Dutch government seized control of the chipmaker, leaving U.S. and European automakers concerned over potential production stoppages. Nexperia China then went rogue, telling staff to ignore orders from the company’s Dutch headquarters.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Karremans said he spoke to his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

“We discussed further steps toward reaching a solution that serves the interests of Nexperia, the European economy, and the Chinese economy,” he said.

“In the coming period, we will remain in contact with the Chinese authorities to work toward a constructive solution.”

A statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce said the Dutch government’s move on Nexperia “seriously affects the stability of the global production and supply chain.”

Nexperia is one of the world’s largest makers of simple computer chips such as diodes and transistors, though it also develops more advanced technologies such as “wide gap” semiconductors used in electrical settings such as electric cars, chargers, and AI data centers.

In 2018, Nexperia was acquired by Wingtech, a state-controlled Chinese company that was blacklisted by the United States in December 2024. The U.S. Commerce Department said last month that its entity list will be expanded to automatically include blacklisted companies’ majority-owned subsidiaries, meaning Nexperia is set to be on the list by the end of next month.

In 2022, the UK government ordered Nexperia to partially reverse its acquisition of British chip maker Newport Wafer Fab. The Netherlands in 2023 allowed Nexperia’s takeover of Delft-based startup Nowi.

On Sept. 30, Karremans invoked the Goods Availability Act to seize control of Nexperia for a year, giving the minister the power block Nexperia decisions that are deemed harmful to Dutch interests.

In an Oct. 14 letter to Parliament, Karremans said certain actions of Nexperia’s CEO, Zhang Xuezheng, had posed “an acute and serious threat to the continuity of the company and thus the preservation of critical technological knowledge, as well as production and development capacities in the Netherlands and Europe.”

Separately, a Dutch commercial court suspended Zhang and appointed Dutch businessman Guido Dierick to take Zhang’s place with a “deciding vote,” and transferred control of almost all of Nexperia’s shares to a Dutch lawyer for management.

Karremans said he had since been informed that the Chinese regime has imposed a company-specific export control measure on all Nexperia locations in China.

According to German and European automakers, Nexperia sent a notice to automobile manufacturers and suppliers on Oct. 10, saying the company could no longer guarantee the supply of its chips.

In a statement on Oct. 20, Hildegard Müller, the president of Germany’s VDA industry association, said: “The situation could soon lead to significant production restrictions—or even a stop in production—if the interruption of Nexperia chip deliveries cannot be resolved in short term.”

Müller said the VDA has been “in contact with the affected companies, the industry, the German federal government, and the European Commission” to find “quick and pragmatic solutions.”

Reuters contributed to this report.