Jian Guo, a German citizen, was accused of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the EU Parliament between September 2019 and April 2024, when he was arrested.
He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison in the Dresden Higher Regional Court, DPA reported. He denied wrongdoing during a court hearing last week.
China's foreign ministry last year said reports in Europe about Chinese spying are all "hyping up with an aim to smear and suppress China."
Guo also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany and gathered information on prominent politicians with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The prosecutor has named him as Jian G., in line with Germany's privacy rules. His former boss, far-right MP Maximilian Krah, previously identified him.
Krah was a witness in Guo's trial and said he did not have any knowledge of his former aide's activities.
Earlier this month, Germany's parliament lifted Krah's immunity in connection with allegations that he also has had ties to China and was involved in corruption and spying scandals.
Lifting his immunity as a politician was a necessary step for authorities to prosecute him. Authorities searched his home and offices under a court order.
Krah denies wrongdoing, and says the allegations are politically motivated.
AfD last year banned Krah from EU elections weeks after he told an Italian newspaper that not all members of the Nazis' elite SS unit, which was involved in major war crimes during World War II, were war criminals.
Krah still won a seat in the German parliament earlier this year as part of the party's historic gains in the Bundestag during the national election.
with DPA
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