German prosecutors said that the police raided offices and homes in Brussels and throughout Germany, as part of a case involving three suspected spies on behalf of China.
Der Spiegel magazine, which was the first to report the raid, said that, until 2017, a German suspect had been working as a senior diplomat at the European Union's Foreign Affairs Office, and had held the post of European Union ambassador several times.
The magazine stated that after leaving the European Union, the former diplomat worked with pressure groups and was believed to have visited China.
"I can confirm that we are investigating the activity of an intelligence agent," said Markus Schmidt, a spokesman for the German federal prosecutor. The prosecution declined to reveal the names or positions of the three suspects.
The case was the first in years and concerned concrete allegations of espionage actions by China against Germany and the European Union.
This comes amid growing fears in Europe and the West in general that China will intensify espionage activities worldwide, as it seeks to extend its political influence equivalent to its economic weight.
Germany and other European countries are under pressure from the United States to exclude Huawei, the Chinese telecom equipment company, from bidding for the fifth generation of mobile phones.
The raids were carried out in Brussels and Berlin and in two states in southern Germany, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, which are major centers of modern technology industries in Germany.