Ministry of Commerce: Resolutely opposes EU listing some Chinese companies as high-risk suppliers

Beijing, January 22 (Xinhua) -- The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yong, said in response to a question on January 22 that the European Union has recently issued relevant documents requiring member states to exclude so-called "high-risk suppliers" in 18 key industries such as energy, transportation, and ICT service management. China expresses serious concern about this.

At the routine press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on the same day, a reporter asked, "What is the response of the Ministry of Commerce to a new revised draft of the Cybersecurity Act proposed by the European Commission on the 20th, which intends to gradually phase out components and equipment from high-risk suppliers in critical infrastructure?

He Yongqian stated that Chinese companies have been operating legally and compliantly in Europe for a long time, providing high-quality products and services to the European people and effectively promoting the development of the telecommunications and digital industries in Europe. However, the EU has listed some Chinese companies as high-risk suppliers and restricted their participation in 5G construction without any factual basis. We firmly oppose the discriminatory behavior of the European side towards Chinese enterprises and the erroneous practice of politicizing and pan securitizing economic and trade issues.

We believe that the European side's use of non-technical standards to forcibly restrict or even prohibit enterprise access not only seriously hinders fair competition and distorts the market, but also harms others and benefits oneself, creating risks on its own and threatening the supply chain security of the digital industry. We urge the European side to adhere to the principle of technological neutrality in cybersecurity, not to generalize security, not to go further on the path of protectionism, and not to hinder normal economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe. The Chinese side will closely monitor the relevant developments of the European side. Once the European side takes discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises, the Chinese side will resolutely take measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.