The US government has charged Sinovel, one of the largest Chinese wind turbine manufacturers, with stealing trade secrets from one of its US suppliers, alleging the offence amounted to "attempted corporate homicide".

In a grand jury indictment issued on Thursday, the US alleged that in 2011 Sinovel had stolen proprietary software and technical details belonging to AMSC, a US company that makes wind turbine components.

The Department of Justice said Sinovel, two of its executives and a former employee of AMSC had conspired to obtain copyrighted information so it could use the company's systems in its turbines without having to pay for them. Turbines using AMSC software were imported to the US and installed in Massachusetts.

If proved, the charges carry a maximum penalty that could run into the billions of dollars, and potentially long prison sentences.

John Vaudreuil, the US attorney for Wisconsin, the location for the servers that held AMSC's information, said: "The allegations in this indictment describe a well-planned attack on an American business by international defendants - nothing short of attempted corporate homicide."

The justice department said the alleged loss to AMSC was more than $800m. The maximum penalty is twice that loss for each of the three counts in the indictment, giving a total of up to $4.8bn.

AMSC called on the administration and Congress to "re-evaluate the US trade relationship with China" in the light of the indictment, which followed an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Emails and Skype chats quoted show discussions between Su Liying and Zhao Haichun, two Sinovel executives, and Dejan Karabasevic, who in 2011 worked for AMSC in Austria, discussing software and turbine tests.

AMSC, then known as American Superconductor, was a supplier to Sinovel.

In May 2011, according to the US indictment, Mr Karabasevic wrote in a Skype chat to Ms Su: "If you succeed, Sinovel can separate from AMSC."

She replied: "And I need your strong help. Haha."

Sinovel has in the past denied that it breached its contract with AMSC or infringed on its intellectual property rights. It could not be reached for comment.

Mr Karabasevic pleaded guilty at an Austrian court in 2011 to passing AMSC secrets to Sinovel, and was given a one-year sentence.

AMSC, whose shares have fallen 93 per cent in the past five years, is also pursuing Sinovel for $1.2bn through three lawsuits and an arbitration dispute in Beijing.

Daniel McGahn, AMSC chief executive, said: "The fact that Sinovel has exported stolen American intellectual property from China back into the United States shows not only a blatant disrespect for intellectual property but a disregard for international trade law."

He said more than 500 AMSC staff members worldwide had lost jobs "following Sinovel's egregious and unlawful behaviour."