A Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma, who has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for espionage in China, did not appeal the ruling by a Monday deadline, officials at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing said.
The employee, in his 60s, will serve his sentence.
He was detained by Chinese authorities in March 2023 just before returning to Japan after his term in China, and was indicted in August 2024.
On July 16 this year, a Chinese regional court recognized his espionage activities, saying that he had been paid to provide information on China's politics and economy to intelligence agencies. The pretrial detention is included in his sentence.
The detention of Japanese nationals in China remains a contentious issue between Tokyo and Beijing, with the Japanese government calling for their early release.
The Astellas employee's sentence is considered relatively light compared with those of other Japanese citizens convicted of espionage in China.
Some see that the light sentence was part of efforts by the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping to improve relations with Japan.
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