Huang Kexue admitted in October that he stole secrets on a pesticide and a new food product and sent them to China and Germany.
Huang previously faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.
The case is the latest in a series of similar allegations about trade secrets being handed to Chinese companies.
Huang was born in China but holds permanent resident status in the US.
He has pleaded guilty to stealing secrets from Dow AgroSciences, where he worked from 2003 to 2008, and Cargill Inc.
According to court papers, Cargill estimated the value of the information stolen at $12m (£7.7m), while Dow gave no specific figure, beyond saying it amounted to millions of dollars.
The sentence came on the same day that the Wall Street Journal reported Chinese hackers had stolen information from the US Chamber of Commerce, focusing on the group’s Asian policy team.
There have been growing concerns in the US that corporate trade secrets are being stolen and handed over to competitors in China.
Earlier in 2011, a Chinese engineer was found guilty of stealing secrets from Ford Motors to try and get a job with Chinese car manufacturers.
In 2010 another couple was charged with trying to sell secrets about General Motors’ hybrid vehicles to China’s Chery Automobile Company.