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<\/a> it looked into whether the ownership had ties with the Chinese government.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n As Europe dishes out billions in public subsidies for the sector, disbursing that support directly to Chinese-owned companies is, in general, \u201ca little bit problematic,\u201d said Frank B\u00f6senberg, managing director of Silicon Saxony, a chips lobby group in the eastern German state.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/GettyImages-1424203783-1024x683.jpg\")
Mixed track record<\/h3>\n