Zhao Weiguo

Zhao Weiguo (; born 1967) is a Chinese businessman who served as chairman and chief executive of Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-backed semiconductor conglomerate affiliated with Tsinghua University, from 2009 until 2022. In May 2025, he was convicted of corruption and embezzlement and given a suspended death sentence by a court in Jilin Province.

Early life and education Zhao was born in 1967 in Shawan County, in northern Xinjiang, to parents who had been exiled to the region during the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957. He spent his childhood in a remote village during the Cultural Revolution, herding livestock and performing agricultural work.

Career Early career After graduation, Zhao worked for an information technology firm in the Zhongguancun district of Beijing before returning to Tsinghua for graduate studies in 1993. Under Zhao, Unigroup shifted its focus from consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals to the semiconductor industry, a pivot that preceded Beijing's 2014 National Integrated Circuit plan and the creation of the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund ("Big Fund").

In April 2018, Zhao accompanied Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a tour of a semiconductor facility in Wuhan, a widely publicised event that positioned him as a leading figure in the country's chip campaign.

At the peak of his career, Zhao was one of China's wealthiest individuals, ranking 1,096th on the Forbes World's Billionaires list in 2022 with an estimated net worth of US$2.8 billion. He publicly pledged to donate 70 percent of his personal assets to Tsinghua University. Zhao publicly opposed the restructuring through his Jiankun holding vehicle, arguing that it would result in a loss of state assets valued at CNY 73.4 billion (US$11.5 billion) and that the group faced a liquidity crisis rather than insolvency. The restructuring was formally approved in December 2021, and in July 2022 full ownership of Tsinghua Unigroup was transferred to Beijing Zhiguangxin Holding, with both Tsinghua Holdings and Jiankun exiting.

Investigation, trial and, conviction In July 2022, shortly after Unigroup's restructuring, Zhao was taken from his home in Beijing by Chinese authorities and placed under investigation by the National Supervisory Commission. His case was part of a wider anti-corruption campaign targeting executives of the Big Fund, Sino IC Capital and other bodies charged with executing China's semiconductor policy.

In March 2023, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Zhao was suspected of embezzlement, illegal profit-seeking for relatives and friends, and damaging the interests of a listed company, and that his case had been transferred to prosecutors. He stood trial before the Intermediate People's Court of Jilin Province in September 2023.

On 14 May 2025, the court convicted Zhao and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve, a sentence that under Chinese law is customarily commuted to life imprisonment after two years without further offence. He was also fined CNY 12 million (US$1.67 million), and all of his personal property was ordered confiscated. The court found that between 2014 and 2021 Zhao had illegally obtained more than CNY 470 million (US$65 million) in state assets, caused state losses exceeding CNY 890 million, and caused losses of more than CNY 46 million to a listed subsidiary, resulting in total losses to state interests of approximately CNY 1.4 billion (US$194 million). The court noted that the reprieve was granted because Zhao had surrendered himself, returned illicit gains and shown remorse.