China rejects allegation of dumping by Huawei and ZTE

The Chinese government has forcefully dismissed allegations by the European Union that Huawei and ZTE have been engaging in dumping telecoms equipment by selling into Europe at below cost prices.

"We think such accusations are groundless and unreasonable," Shen Danyang, a spokesman for China's commerce ministry, told Reuters, adding that European telecom vendors have operated in China for many years, benefiting both Beijing and Brussels.

In a further response, Shen claimed that both Huawei and ZTE operate in a completely free market environment, and "their products gain global competitiveness via the companies' active R&D efforts."

 "China does not want such a win-win situation being undermined or damaged," he told the China Post. "Facing the grave world economic situation, we think China and the EU should enhance policy coordination...and refrain from using trade protection measures."

Last month, EU officials said that it would take action against Huawei and ZTE on the understanding that they receive illegal state subsidies that allow them to sell equipment at prices below those offered by European rivals such as Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent.

However, this rejection of dumping by the Chinese commerce ministry comes only days after a Huawei board member told Reuters that any subsidies given to the company were entirely legal and that the government was not active in helping it win contracts worldwide.

Separately, the U.S. International Trade Commission said it was investigating certain electronic imaging devices from various regions including China after a U.S. company alleged its patents were infringed. The commission said that eight companies were being targeted, including Huawei and ZTE, according to the China Economic Review.

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this China Post article
- see this China Economic Review article

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