Germany to keep door open to Huawei 5G technology, ignoring pressure from US

Berlin has decided to allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to participate in the country’s upcoming 5G infrastructure projects. It stated that it wants to create “a level playing field” for vendors.

The decision was confirmed to CNBC by a spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry.

The move is a blow to Washington, which has been pressuring allies to shut out Huawei from their 5G infrastructure. Other EU member states, including France and the UK, are yet to make a firm decision on employing Huawei.

Huawei has welcomed Germany's “fact and standards based approach,” saying that “politicising cyber-security will only hinder technology development and social progress while doing nothing to address the security challenges all countries face.”

The company said it “will continue to work openly with regulators, customers, and industry organisations to ensure that mobile networks are secure.”

“Over the past 30 years, we have served more than three billion people around the world, and we have maintained a strong track record in security throughout.”

The Chinese tech firm, which is caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war, announced this week it had signed more than 60 commercial 5G contracts “with leading global carriers” to date.

It has also reported revenue growth for the first three quarters of 2019, up 24 percent year-on-year to 610.8 billion yuan ($86 billion).

The US has ramped up pressure on Huawei in recent months, blacklisting the company from doing business with American firms. This month it also added China’s top artificial intelligence startups to the blacklist.

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