Chinese national charged with stealing trade secrets - U.S. Justice Dept

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday a Chinese national had been arrested for stealing trade secrets from a U.S.-based petroleum company, his employer, related to a product worth more than $1 billion.

The Chinese national, Hongjin Tan, allegedly downloaded hundreds of files related to the manufacture of a "research and development downstream energy market product," which he planned to use to benefit a company in China that had offered him a job, the Justice Department said. He was arrested on Thursday and will next appear in court on Wednesday, the department said.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; editing by Jonathan Oatis)