A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Jan. 6 to conspiracy to commit economic espionage after he tried to steal a trade secret from his U.S. employer to advance his career at a Chinese state-run research institute.
Haitao Xiang, 44, a legal permanent U.S. resident formerly from Missouri, worked for Monsanto, a St. Louis-based agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company, and its subsidiary, The Climate Corporation, between 2008 and 2017, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).