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Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of Nexperia, has named experienced general counsel Sophie Shen Xinjia, a Columbia Law School graduate, as its president amid a Sino-Dutch dispute over control of the Netherlands-based chipmaker. Shen’s tenure as president would be in line with that of Wingtech’s 12th board, which was formed in January and will expire by January 2028, according to the company’s filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Friday. She replaced Zhang Qiuhong, who served as Wingtech’s president until her resignation on July 14, according to the firm’s filing on July 15. At the time, Shen was the company’s general counsel. Shen was named a vice-president on the same day Zhang resigned, but served as the firm’s acting president, according to the filing. Shen, 41, joined Nexperia in January 2017 as head of legal affairs for the Asia-Pacific region, following stints at US firm TRW and German engineering company Bosch. Her appointment and experience reflected Wingtech’s current need to overcome issues surrounding Nexperia, which Dutch authorities seized control of on September 30, citing national security concerns and invoking an obscure 1952 law known as the Goods Availability Act. According to Wingtech’s filing, Shen has more than 15 years of experience as a legal counsel. That covered such areas as corporate governance and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and cross-border transactions. Shen was also qualified to practice law in China, the company said. The Netherlands’ action on Nexperia – which included ousting Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng as the chipmaker’s CEO – came a day after the US government extended export control restrictions to entities at least 50 per cent owned by companies on Washington’s trade blacklist. Being wholly owned by blacklisted Wingtech, Nexperia became subject to US sanctions. Beijing on October 4 responded by issuing a ban on Nexperia China and its subcontractors from exporting finished components produced in the country. About 70 per cent of all Nexperia products are assembled in its factory in Dongguan, in southern Guangdong province. Still, Shen’s appointment comes at a time when there appears to be a path to resolve the dispute over Nexperia. China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday said it was considering exempting some Nexperia orders from the export ban that it imposed amid turmoil in global supply chains, especially in the car industry. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on the same day, Nexperia would resume sending chips under a framework agreement reached during the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Thursday in Busan, South Korea.
