China urges EU to 'avoid' proposed ban on equipment suppliers

China urged the European Union on Wednesday to reconsider a proposed ban on network equipment from Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE, calling the measure "discriminatory".

The European Union wants to ban suppliers seen as "high risk" under cybersecurity proposals set out in January in its Digital Networks Act.

Its proposal, currently being negotiated between the EU parliament and the governments of the 27 member states, is the latest of several measures targeting China, with whom trading relations have soured in recent years.

The act does not cite Chinese firms by name but once identified, telecom operators would have three years to phase them out of their networks.

China's foreign ministry urged the EU to "avoid taking discriminatory restrictive measures", warning it would hurt the European economy.

"The EU's relevant approach is detrimental to others, without benefitting itself," ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.

"It will only cause Europe to miss out on opportunities for digital transformation and development... and undermine the confidence of companies from various countries in investing in Europe," he said.

European telecoms bosses -- including CEOs of France's Orange, Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefonica -- have also opposed the ban.

An open letter signed by 17 top executives on Tuesday said the proposed measures would increase their investment costs.

The letter did not cite China in particular but said that a blanket ban on certain suppliers from outside the EU would impose "up to 40 billion euros ($46 billion) in replacement costs on our sector".

Spokesperson Guo added on Wednesday that he hoped the EU would "listen attentively to the rational voices from various sectors in Europe".

The proposed ban emerged after the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- urged countries in 2023 to exclude Huawei and ZTE from their mobile networks due to security risks but saw insufficient results.

The United States has long banned Huawei and sought to convince allies to follow suit, arguing that its products could be used to monitor communications.