On the evening of January 13, 2026, Tinci Materials (002709.SZ) issued an announcement disclosing that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jiujiang Tinci Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiujiang Tinci"), as the victim entity, received the "Criminal Judgment" issued by the Lianxi District People's Court of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province on January 12. Zhejiang Yanyi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhejiang Yanyi") and its then Chairman Yue Min, as well as defendant Zhang Chunhui, were convicted of trade secret infringement in the first instance, with a total fine of 22.5 million yuan imposed. Among them, Zhejiang Yanyi alone was fined 20 million yuan, and all fines have been paid.

The announcement indicates that the prosecuting authority in this case was the Hukou County People's Procuratorate, which had filed a public prosecution with the Lianxi District People's Court of Jiujiang City as early as September 6, 2024. Due to the involvement of trade secrets, the court lawfully formed a collegial panel and applied ordinary procedures, conducting closed-door hearings on December 26 and 27, 2024, and January 13, 2025. During the trial, the proceedings were extended once with the approval of the Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court and four times with the approval of the Supreme People's Court. The case has now concluded.

The judgment revealed the complete chain of infringement. Jiujiang Tinci was established in October 2007 and possesses core industrial technologies for the production of liquid lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide and liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate. To protect its trade secrets, the company established a comprehensive confidentiality management system and signed relevant confidentiality and non-compete agreements with employees.

The source of the leak in this case was Li Sheng, a former employee of Jiujiang Tinci. He joined the company in August 2017 and held multiple key positions, including Process Technology Director and Chief Engineer in the battery production department, before resigning in May 2021. The court found that, in order to obtain Jiujiang Tinci's trade secrets, Yue Min, then Chairman of Zhejiang Yanyi, lured Li Sheng with high consulting fees and executive positions, inducing him to collude with Zheng Feilong and others to disclose the relevant trade secrets. For this purpose, Zhejiang Yanyi paid Li Sheng 2.69804 million yuan and Zheng Feilong 500,000 yuan, totaling 3.19804 million yuan in bribes.

It is worth noting that the related criminal cases involving Li Sheng and Zheng Feilong had been adjudicated earlier. According to the final judgment issued by the Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court of Jiangxi Province in 2025 [(2025) Gan 04 Xing Zhong No. 70], Li Sheng was sentenced to three years and three months in prison and fined 4.5 million yuan, while Zheng Feilong was sentenced to two years and three months in prison and fined 1.5 million yuan.

Regarding the first-instance judgment, the court clearly stated: Zhejiang Yanyi was convicted of trade secret infringement and fined 20 million yuan; Yue Min was convicted of trade secret infringement, sentenced to two years and eight months in prison with a three-year probation, and fined 2 million yuan; Zhang Chunhui was convicted of trade secret infringement, sentenced to one year and six months in prison with a two-year probation, and fined 500,000 yuan. Additionally, Zhang Chunhui's illegal gains of 147,000 yuan were confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

In terms of economic compensation, the judgment stated that Zhejiang Yanyi had proactively prepaid 80 million yuan, specifically designated to compensate Jiujiang Tinci for economic losses. Tinci Materials stated in the announcement that if the conditions for the judgment to take effect are met, this compensation will be recorded under the company's "non-operating income" account, reflected as "non-recurring gains and losses," thereby affecting the company's current period profit and loss. However, the company also cautioned about risks, noting that this judgment is only a first-instance result, and the final judgment and the subsequent amount of compensation to be executed remain uncertain, with potential impacts on the company's current and future profits also uncertain.

It is reported that Tinci Materials is a leading global enterprise in the lithium battery electrolyte field. Jiujiang Tinci, as its core production base, operates the world's largest liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate manufacturing facility. The two technologies involved in this case are key core technologies that maintain the company's competitiveness in the industry. Industry insiders pointed out that this case, as a typical example of trade secret protection in the new energy industry, demonstrates the judicial authorities' strict stance against infringements on core technological intellectual property rights and serves as a warning for industry enterprises to strengthen trade secret protection.