Huawei and ZTE. Photo: VCG

European Commission (EC) actions to publicly pressure member states to avoid using 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE are against WTO rules, said the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) in a statement sent to the Global Times on Saturday.

The statement came after EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Thursday urged more member states to restrict China's Huawei and ZTE 5G from telecoms networks, citing so-called risks to the bloc's collective security.

The EC said on Thursday that Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE pose a risk to the EU's security. The commission announced it will no longer use services that rely on these two companies.

Publicly singling out Chinese enterprises as "high-risk vendors (HRV)" without a legal basis is against the principles of free trade, read the CCCEU statement.

"It is of paramount importance to emphasize that the discriminatory 'HRV' assessment shall not be applied to any vendor without justified procedure and an adequate hearing. This is a matter of serious concern for the Chinese investor community and likely is as well for their local business partners in Europe," said the CCCEU.

The chamber said that it had expressed serious worries, on behalf of all of its members, about the worsening business environment in Europe. 

On Friday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that it firmly opposed the actions of the EC.

"The European Commission keeps alleging that Chinese telecom firms such as Huawei and ZTE pose a security risk, but has yet to demonstrate any evidence. This is a typical presumption of guilt. We firmly oppose it," Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said on Friday during a regular press conference.

The reality is that since Huawei and ZTE started operations in Europe many years ago, not only have they done no harm to European countries' security, but they have contributed substantially to the growth of Europe's telecom sector and generated considerable socioeconomic benefits, Wang noted.

For example, Huawei's European Research Institute has more than 1,500 researchers, with more than 20 sites across Europe. The company employs more than 10,000 staff in Europe and serves customers in almost every European country, according to media reports.

The EC's identification of certain entities as "HRV" without any legal or factual basis contravenes the spirit of the rule of law and is also a brazen violation of the principles of the market economy, free trade and fair competition that the EU claims to champion, said Wang.

"We strongly urge the EU to comply with international trade rules, not to make everything political or about security, and not to suppress foreign firms in the name of security," the spokesperson stressed.

In January 2023, the CCCEU and its counterpart, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, organized the EU-China Business Leaders Roundtable Dialogue, which promoted communication and mutual trust between Chinese and European investors.

"Both Europeans and Chinese have their respective competitive advantages, on which international trade and investment are based, and we should have sufficient courage to recognize our peers' advances. Not to mention the many challenges that we need to collectively face, such as climate change, pandemic prevention and poverty reduction," said the CCCEU.

Global Times