Huawei at the heart of the Chinese foreign minister's visit to Europe

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Expected in Italy this Tuesday, the head of Chinese diplomacy begins a tour in five European countries, including France. This is Wang Yi's first visit abroad since the outbreak of Covid-19. Preserving multilateralism should be on the agenda, as should the reorganization of global supply chains. But the hottest subject will undoubtedly be the awarding of contracts for 5G, from which the Chinese telecom giant Huawei is gradually being pushed aside in Europe.

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The Chinese foreign minister will try to stem the tide of anti-Huawei regulations, which are gradually blocking the path of 5G to the Chinese telecom giant in Europe.

The United Kingdom is not on the program, close to the American position, London has already banned the purchase of new Huawei equipment from next December.

The Chinese minister begins his tour with Italy, which has been considering excluding Huawei from its 5G network since last month. Wang Yi will also travel to Norway, where operator Telenor has preferred Sweden's Ericsson to Chinese Huawei, in the Netherlands, which plan to ban certain operators from critical parts of their network. In France where the government has an ambivalent position: no total ban on Huawei but non-renewable authorizations of less than 5 years, which threatens the profitability of the Chinese equipment manufacturer's investments. Wang Yi's last step: Germany, which must decide the fate of Huawei in September.

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• European Union
• China
• Telecom