A Chinese court has frozen 2.14 billion yuan ($318 million) worth of assets of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV and Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ITEC BV, marking the latest progress in Chinese electronics maker Wingtech Technology's battle to regain control of the tech company.

The measures include freezing Nexperia BV's stakes in four China-based subsidiaries. The court also froze ITEC BV's 100 percent stake in ITEC Technology (Wuxi) Co Ltd. The freezes are set to remain in place for roughly three years through August 2029.

Wingtech is also seeking to restore its control over Nexperia and has demanded that the defendants jointly compensate it for economic losses, provisionally estimated at 8 billion yuan.

READ MORE: Wingtech seeks over $1b in damages from Dutch chipmaker Nexperia

The order gives Wingtech its first tangible legal foothold in China in a sprawling cross-border dispute over Nexperia, a major supplier of basic chips used across the automotive and electronics industries.

In October 2025, the government of the Netherlands intervened in the operations of Nexperia, a chipmaker owned by China's Wingtech Technology, citing "national security" concerns. The intervention resulted in the sidelining of Wingtech. Weeks later, Nexperia's Dutch headquarters halted wafer supplies to the plant in China.

Despite the disruption, Nexperia China held a global product launch in Shanghai in late August.

John Chang, CEO of Nexperia China, said the company is now approaching 100 percent local semiconductor production.

The company has secured local wafer suppliers and rebuilt a controllable supply chain, and achieved a huge upgrade from 6-inch and 8-inch wafers to 12-inch process technologies, Chang said, adding: "Nexperia China achieving independent operations is not about confronting anyone; it is about protecting those we serve. To our customers, choosing Nexperia China means no more supply worries."

ALSO READ: Supply disruption fails to chip away at Nexperia China's resilience

Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said the dispute underscored how difficult it was to separate the semiconductor industry along geopolitical lines given the deeply intertwined nature of global chip supply chains.

Political or bloc-based intervention risks fragmenting those networks and raising costs across the industry, Wang said, adding that reducing non-market barriers would provide a more conducive environment for technological innovation and allow its benefits to be shared more broadly.

Contact the writers at chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn