A Japanese employee of drugmaker Astellas Pharma who was jailed in China for espionage is expected to be released in mid-December and returned to Japan, according to Japanese media reports.

The man, who is in his 60s, was detained in Beijing in March 2023 on suspicion of spying. He was indicted in August 2024 and sentenced in July 2025 by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court to three years and six months in prison. Kyodo news agency and the Yomiuri newspaper reported late on Saturday that he is set to be released when his sentence ends in mid-December.

A sentence almost served

The sentence counts the period between his detention and the ruling, so he is expected to serve the full term rather than win an early release. Sources close to Japan-China relations said he is likely to be deported to Japan immediately after his release. The Japanese government has repeatedly called for his early release, but he now appears set to serve the whole sentence.

The man had worked in China for many years and had served as an executive at Astellas' Chinese unit and as a senior official of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China. He was due to return to Japan as part of a personnel transfer when Chinese security authorities detained him.

A long-running irritant

The case has been a persistent irritant in relations between Tokyo and Beijing. Astellas, Japan's foreign ministry and the Chinese embassy in Tokyo did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Ties between the two countries have deteriorated further since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last year that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from nearby Japan, after which China urged its citizens not to travel to Japan.

[Source: reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/astellas-employee-imprisoned-china-be-released-december-japanese-media-report-2026-11-08/) | [Source: europesays.com](https://www.europesays.com/japan/120203/)