CHINA

In Depth: Chinese Machine Maker Hit With Massive Penalty in Landmark IP Theft Case

Published: Sep. 29, 2026 11:38 a.m. GMT+8

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The Jingdiao Technology booth at the 2026 Shanghai International Machining and Forming Equipment Exhibition on July 1, 2026.

China’s Supreme People’s Court ordered a listed machine-tool maker and a former employee to pay more than 380 million yuan ($57 million) for stealing trade secrets from a rival, one of the country’s largest judgments in a technology-secret case.

The former employee, Tian Xianyin, was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for infringing trade secrets after prosecutors said he copied tens of thousands of technical files before joining Shenzhen Create Century Machinery Co. Ltd., a unit of Guangdong Create Century Intelligent Equipment Group.

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China's Supreme People's Court ordered machine-tool maker Create Century and ex-employee Tian Xianyin to pay 381.63 million yuan for stealing trade secrets from Beijing Jingdiao, applying triple punitive damages.
Tian copied over 70,000 files, including 37,340 designs, before joining Create Century under an alias in 2017; he was criminally convicted in 2019.
The case is the IP tribunal's second-largest, after Geely's 640 million yuan award vs WM Motor; provisions cut Create Century's 2025 net profit by ~278 million yuan, and its market cap fell ~30%.

AI generated, for reference only

Who’s Who

Beijing Jingdiao Group Co.: Beijing Jingdiao Group Co. develops and manufactures precision CNC machine tools. It won a landmark trade-secrets case, securing ¥379.63 million in damages plus ¥2 million in costs, after a former employee stole 37,340 design drawings covering 27 series and 160 machine models.

Shenzhen Create Century Machinery Co. Ltd.: Shenzhen Create Century Machinery Co. Ltd. is a subsidiary of Guangdong Create Century Intelligent Equipment Group, operating in the CNC-machine-tool sector. The Supreme People's Court ordered it and former employee Tian Xianyin to pay 381.63 million yuan for stealing trade secrets from Beijing Jingdiao Group. Authorities seized 76.01 million yuan from its accounts and froze stakes in two subsidiaries.

Guangdong Create Century Intelligent Equipment Group: Guangdong Create Century Intelligent Equipment Group is a listed machine-tool maker (300083.SZ) operating in the CNC-machine-tool sector via its Shenzhen subsidiary. The subsidiary was ordered to pay ¥381.63 million for trade-secret infringement, reducing 2025 net profit by about ¥278 million and triggering a ~30% market-capitalization drop.

Create Century Group: Create Century Group (300083.SZ) operates in the CNC-machine-tool sector via Shenzhen Create Century Machinery. In a December 2025 court ruling, it and a former employee were ordered to pay 381.63 million yuan for trade-secret theft. The case cut its 2025 net profit by about 278 million yuan, and its market cap fell roughly 30%.

Geely Holding Group: According to the article, Geely Holding Group holds the record for the largest technical-trade-secret case handled by China's IP tribunal. In 2024, it secured a judgment exceeding 640 million yuan against electric-vehicle maker WM Motor, making its case the top award in that category.

WM Motor: The article mentions WM Motor as an electric-vehicle maker that lost a trade secret dispute to Geely Holding Group in 2024, with a judgment exceeding 640 million yuan—the largest such case handled by China’s IP tribunal at the time.

AI generated, for reference only

What Happened When

Before March 2017：: Tian Xianyin joined Beijing Jingdiao in 2003 and signed a confidentiality agreement. Before leaving the company in March 2017, he downloaded files from its server 162 times without authorization, copied more than 70,000 files from his work computer to a shared computer, and removed files using USB drives and portable hard disks.

March 2017：: Tian left Beijing Jingdiao.

Late March 2017：: Four days after leaving Beijing Jingdiao, Tian joined Shenzhen Create Century under an alias as deputy general manager of its glass-machinery project.

December 2018：: Police summoned Tian in Shenzhen; he voluntarily confessed.

July 2019：: A Beijing court convicted Tian of infringing trade secrets, sentencing him to prison and imposing a fine of 100,000 yuan.

October 2020：: Tian completed his sentence (1 year and 10 months).

May 2023：: The Beijing Intellectual Property Court ordered Tian and Shenzhen Create Century to pay 12.3 million yuan plus 500,000 yuan in expenses.

2024：: Geely Holding Group’s judgment against WM Motor (over 640 million yuan) — referenced as a comparison.

2025：: Create Century Group’s provisions reduced 2025 net profit by about 278 million yuan.

December 2025：: The Supreme People’s Court’s Intellectual Property Court ordered Tian and Shenzhen Create Century to stop disclosing or using secrets and to pay 379.63 million yuan in damages plus 2 million yuan in expenses (total 381.63 million yuan).

Post-December 2025：: After judgment took effect, authorities seized 76.01 million yuan from Shenzhen Create Century bank accounts and froze stakes in two subsidiaries.

March 2026：: The case was highlighted in the Supreme People’s Court’s annual work report submitted to China’s legislature.

June 2026：: The Beijing Intellectual Property Court ruled in the first instance that Beijing Jingdiao owned seven of nine patents; both sides appealed.