FILE PHOTO: Siemens logo is pictured at Siemens Healthineers headquarters in Erlangen near Nuremberg, Germany, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The man arrested by Dutch police on suspicion of industrial espionage as he attempted to leave for China on Thursday was an employee of Siemens Netherlands, the company told Reuters.

“I can confirm that a Siemens Netherlands employee was arrested by police yesterday for questioning by the authorities,” spokesman Leo Freriks said on Friday, adding that the investigation was directed “at the employee and not Siemens as a company”.

Freriks was unable to say what field the 65-year-old, suspected of spying for a Chinese rival, had been working in.