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Energy & advanced manufacturing / 2012–2013

Two businesspeople offered $100,000 for Pittsburgh Corning's FOAMGLAS formula in an FBI sting S1 S2

After tours, photographs, and a recruitment advertisement failed to secure Pittsburgh Corning's cellular-glass know-how, Ji Li Huang and Xiao Guang Qi agreed to buy the formula and process from a person they thought was a corrupt insider. S1 S2

Evidence at a glance How labels work

Evidence status Adjudicated
Case-level nexus context No state nexus established
Public sources 2 Automated checks verify citation linkage; editorial review judges support
Evidence foundation Official summaries only The adjudicated outcome is currently linked through official government summaries; no dispositive court document is yet included. S2
Publication record Published Aug 23, 2026 Reviewed Aug 25, 2026 · Next Aug 23, 2027

Evidence status and PRC-state nexus answer different questions and must not be joined across different actors. Actor-specific outcomes appear below.

Compare this file
Finding

Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets. The supposed seller was cooperating with the FBI, so the purchase was interrupted; the court nevertheless found intended loss above $7 million. S2 S1

01 / Executive brief

Executive summary

Pittsburgh Corning made FOAMGLAS cellular-glass insulation for buildings, industrial piping, petrochemical systems, and liquefied-natural-gas tank bases. Ji Li Huang, the owner of a Chinese manufacturing company, and employee Xiao Guang Qi wanted the protected formula and production process to open a competing foam-glass plant in China. S1 S2

The pair first pursued access around the Sedalia, Missouri, plant and later advertised for technical talent with Pittsburgh Corning experience. An FBI cooperating source answered. Huang and Qi agreed to pay $100,000 for purportedly stolen documents, arrived with money, and were arrested before receiving genuine secrets. Both pleaded guilty; Huang received 18 months and a $250,000 fine, while Qi received time served and a $20,000 fine. S1 S2

Close photograph of a porous dark gray cellular foam-glass block
technology

Foam glass is a rigid cellular insulation material whose performance depends on protected formulation and manufacturing controls. This is an independent contextual sample, not Pittsburgh Corning product evidence.

FK1954 / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain ↗

02 / The vignette

What happened

The competitive plan began with plant-level observation

The complaint described efforts to learn the Sedalia process through visits, photography, and physical proximity to the plant. When direct observation did not yield the protected recipe, the acquisition strategy shifted toward recruiting someone who could supply the missing formula and engineering documents. S1

A newspaper advertisement found the FBI

An advertisement sought technical talent with Pittsburgh Corning experience to lead an Asian foam-glass project. A cooperating source responded and claimed access to stolen internal documents. During meetings, the parties negotiated a $100,000 price, an initial payment, and possible consulting trips to China. S1 S2

The theft was attempted, not completed

Huang and Qi arrived at the final meeting with money and were shown documents marked secret and confidential. Agents arrested them before authentic trade secrets changed hands. Their guilty pleas established the conspiracy and intended competitive use, while the sting limits the harm claim: this was a prevented purchase, not proof that the FOAMGLAS recipe reached a factory in China. S1 S2

03 / Anatomy

How access became transfer

This six-part framework asks the same questions of every file. Each stage carries its own evidence state; a listed stage can be alleged, inferred, interrupted, disputed, or not established. The structure does not manufacture a completed transfer or harm.

  1. 01

    Relationship context Documented

    Competing-plant objective

    Huang and Qi sought Pittsburgh Corning know-how to establish foam-glass production in China. S1 S2

  2. 02

    Access assessed Documented

    Visits and recruiting

    They used physical observation and a technical-talent advertisement to seek plant-specific knowledge. S1 S2

  3. 03

    Acquisition assessed Adjudicated or admitted

    $100,000 purchase negotiated

    The pair agreed to buy formula and process documents from a person they believed was an insider. S1 S2

  4. 04

    Movement assessed Documented

    Transfer intercepted

    They brought payment to a Kansas City meeting, but the FBI arrested them before genuine secrets moved. S1 S2

  5. 05

    Downstream use assessed Interrupted

    Factory use intended; completed use not established

    The admitted plan was to use the information to open a plant competing with Pittsburgh Corning, but the sting interrupted the scheme and the cited record does not establish completed downstream use. S2

  6. 06

    Consequences assessed Adjudicated or admitted

    Plea and intended-loss finding

    Both pleaded guilty, and the court held them accountable for intended loss exceeding $7 million. S2

04 / Evidence boundary

What is established—and what is not

Established in the record

  • Huang and Qi admitted agreeing to buy Pittsburgh Corning trade secrets for a competing plant in China. S2
  • The FBI sting prevented genuine formula and process documents from being transferred. S1 S2

Uncertain, limited, or unresolved

  • Because the source was cooperating with law enforcement, the record does not establish that authentic FOAMGLAS secrets reached the defendants or a China-based factory. S1 S2

Subject response / procedural context

  • Both defendants accepted responsibility through guilty pleas; their sentences were imposed the same day. S2

05 / Sequence

Timeline

  1. Recruiting advertisement appears

    An advertisement sought Pittsburgh Corning experience for an Asian foam-glass project. S2

  2. Cash meeting and arrests

    Huang and Qi brought money to obtain purported trade secrets and were arrested by the FBI. S1 S2

  3. Pleas and sentences

    Both admitted the conspiracy and received prison or time-served sentences plus fines. S2

06 / People and institutions

Who appears in the public record

Ji Li Huang

Owner of Ningbo Oriental Crafts and organizer of the purchase S1 S2

Outcome: Pleaded guilty; 18 months and $250,000 fine S2

Actor-specific PRC nexus No state nexus established

Ji Li Huang: The admitted objective was a competing plant in China for private commercial profit; the cited record does not establish PRC government direction or support. S1 S2

Xiao Guang Qi

Huang's employee and conspiracy participant S1 S2

Outcome: Pleaded guilty; time served and $20,000 fine S2

Actor-specific PRC nexus No state nexus established

Xiao Guang Qi: The admitted objective was a competing plant in China for private commercial profit; the cited record does not establish PRC government direction or support. S1 S2

FBI cooperating source

Purported insider seller who enabled the sting S1 S2

Actor-specific PRC nexus No state nexus established

FBI cooperating source: The admitted objective was a competing plant in China for private commercial profit; the cited record does not establish PRC government direction or support. S1 S2

Originator / affected institution

Pittsburgh Corning Corporation

Developer and owner of the FOAMGLAS formula and process S1 S2

07 / Consequences

Documented, attributed, potential, and unknown consequences

Court finding

The court found intended loss above $7 million based on the company's investment in developing and protecting the information; actual transfer was prevented. S2

08 / Hindsight analysis

Where leadership could have seen risk

These are our analytic judgments based on the public record, not court findings. They are framed to improve controls without treating nationality as a risk factor.

Observation escalated into recruiting

When tours and photography failed, the effort shifted toward finding someone with deeper plant knowledge and document access.

Process knowledge was the real product

The target combined formula, equipment drawings, manufacturing sequence, and consulting—not a single portable object.

09 / Apply the lesson

Actions leaders can take

  1. companies

    Brief tour and plant staff

    Define photography, questioning, escort, and escalation rules for facilities containing protected process knowledge.

  2. companies

    Monitor targeted recruitment

    Watch for advertisements and outreach that seek named-plant experience or unusually specific proprietary process skills.

  3. both

    Use controlled law-enforcement liaison

    When a suspected buyer solicits employees, preserve communications and coordinate safely rather than improvising a confrontation.

10 / Source record

Sources

Links point to the public record reviewed for this file. Government releases can summarize court proceedings but remain government-authored sources; the source note identifies those limits.

  1. S1

    Criminal Complaint: United States v. Ji Li Huang and Xiao Guang Qi ↗

    U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri · Published Sep 4, 2012 · Retrieved Aug 23, 2026

    Charging account; later guilty pleas establish the conspiracy.

    procedural record court record
  2. S2

    Chinese Business Owner and Employee Plead Guilty and Are Sentenced for Stealing Trade Secrets ↗

    U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri · Published Jan 25, 2013 · Retrieved Aug 23, 2026

    official summary government release

12 / Reference

Cite this dossier

Use the permanent URL and review date below so readers can identify the version of the public-source record you consulted.

ChinaSteals. “Two businesspeople offered $100,000 for Pittsburgh Corning's FOAMGLAS formula in an FBI sting.” CS-032. Published Aug 23, 2026; last reviewed Aug 25, 2026. https://chinasteals.com/cases/huang-qi-pittsburgh-corning-foamglas/

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