The Government needs to take action to protect British chip designer Imagination Technologies "before it is too late", the former boss of the company has said, amid questions over whether Beijing is using the coronavirus pandemic to seize control.

Sir Hossein Yassaie, who served as chief executive of the Hertfordshire-based company until 2016, joined calls for there to be further scrutiny of Imagination’s Chinese owners.

He warned that China Reform Holdings may have a "non-commercial agenda", mirroring growing fears among politicians that Beijing could be attempting to use the cover of coronavirus to gain access to Imagination's sensitive security technology.

The chip designer has developed a verification technology which it uses to prove its chips work. MPs are concerned that this could ultimately be used to find vulnerabilities in Western networks, and compromise them.

Any move to shift Imagination’s assets elsewhere be particularly concerning given the company, which is behind around a third of all the graphics processing chips used in mobile phones, also makes software to spot any so-called “backdoors” or weaknesses in networks.

Sir Hossein said he had written to senior ministers on the issue, adding that “Government needs to take these issues as serious as they are and not be casual about them which has been a weak approach in the past”.

He added that there were grounds for the Government to launch an “investigation and intervention”.

Imagination has been under the control of Canyon Bridge, a private equity firm whose largest investor is Chinese state-owned investment fund China Reform Holdings since 2017. At the time of the takeover, Canyon Bridge was headquartered in the US, although has since shifted its headquarters to the Cayman Islands.

Prior to its takeover, Imagination had been listed on the London Stock Exchange, and its takeover had prompted some scrutiny.

It was, however, ultimately given the green light after Canyon Bridge said it had “no plans to make any changes to the continuing employment of employees and management”.

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The firm had said it did not “intend to change the principal locations of Imagination’s places of business, or redeploy any fixed assets of Imagination", and that China Reform would act as a passive investor.

Since then, however, there have been signs that China Reform wanted to take a more active role in the company - something which is understood to have ramped up in recent weeks after Imagination struck a new supplier deal with Apple.

Last week, an emergency meeting was called at the business for China Reform to place four representatives on its board - a move which would have doubled the size of the board. Such a move was opposed by senior executives at the business, who cautioned it could scupper ongoing talks with new investors.

The board appointments were postponed after growing pressure from MPs, including from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, although days later three senior executives left the company, including chief executive Ron Black.

One of those executives was understood to have written in his resignation letter: “I will not be part of a company that is effectively controlled by the Chinese government."

Sources said that while China Reform backed down on its board appointments, it was still looking at ways it could transfer ownership of sensitive security software developed by Imagination to companies controlled by China.

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, has urged the Government to block such a move, saying electronic technology was “as close as you’re going to get to a strategic asset”.

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“What appears to be happening is the Chinese seem to be seeking to uproot the company and move it to China. That seems to me to be a very bad idea.

“We can’t allow extensions of the Chinese state to control strategic assets in the UK and that’s what this is.”

Speaking on the Today programme, Tom Tugenghat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: "Whoever writes the code, writes the rules for the world, more than any regulation passed by bureaucrats. There's no point in taking back control from Brussels, only to hand it over to Beijing."

His comments were echoed by Bob Seely, a Conservative MP also on the committee, who said there were “many things which are going to come to a head about our relationship with China”.

These included “whether we have not done enough to protect our national interest, and allowed China to have a very one-sided relationship with the West”.

Imagination is among the companies which have been asked to appear before the committee for its inquiry into foreign asset stripping. The appearance could take place as early as next week over Skype, although Imagination is not required to attend.

Imagination said it “welcomed the opportunity to respond directly to any questions the Committee may have and address any misunderstandings”.

Imagination’s chairman Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge who also took up the role of interim chief executive late last week, has also been separately called by Mr Dowden, the culture secretary, to answer questions over the growing influence of its Chinese backer on the UK firm.

A date has not been set for that meeting, which is expected to take place virtually.