A view of Huawei’s exhibition area at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China’s Zhejiang Province in October Photo: Zhang Hongpei/GT

Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming on Sunday said that banning Huawei means back-pedalling for Britain, which would leave the country trailing behind on technology.

Liu, who made the comments in a signed article published on Sunday Telegraph, said that Huawei provides network services to more than 3 billion people in over 170 countries and regions, of which no country, organization, company or individual has come up with concrete evidence that its products pose any security threat.

"This country's Science and Technology Select Committee also concluded that 'there are no technical grounds for excluding Huawei entirely from the UK's 5G or other telecommunications networks'," he said.

He stressed that China had never and will never ask companies or individuals to collect data, information or intelligence in others countries by illegal means.

"Fabricating 'Huawei risk' in the name of national security is tantamount to giving a dog a bad name to hang him," Liu said. "Doing so will only hamper normal cooperation between countries, and in the end, those who intend to scare others would lift the stone only to drop it on their own feet."

The ambassador said from 2012 to 2017, Huawei brought 2 billion pounds to Britain through investment and procurement, and created 26,000 jobs. In early 2018, Huawei pledged to invest a further 3 billion pounds in the country over the next five years.

"This is a vote of confidence in the economic prospects of the UK as it leaves the EU. It is also a vote of support for China-UK business cooperation," Liu said.

"Banning Huawei means back-pedalling for Britain," Liu said, adding that several British telecommunications operators have admitted that banning Huawei equipment would delay Britain's 5G, leaving it trailing far behind in this latest industrial revolution.

"The image of Britain as an open and inclusive partner for cooperation would also bear the brunt," he said. "So would the confidence of foreign investors and the cooperation between China and the UK."