According to reports in the Financial Times, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht has demanded that European suppliers be given a 30% share of the Chinese telecoms market and in return the EU will drop its investigation into the giving of alleged subsidies to Chinese companies.
In addition to the rise in market share, it is also claimed that De Gucht is insisting that the likes of Huawei and ZTE, two key Chinese telecom suppliers, raise the price of their exports by 29%.
The FT reported that Chinese officials have privately complained about the demands, but the issue is likely to come to a head on the 1 February when De Gucht and Chinese officials meet.
A spokesman for the Chinese mission to the EU told the FT that, “we hope that through consultation and negotiation that we could reach an agreement settling this issue without going to a trade war.”
An EU official responded saying that: “The summary of the discussions put forward by the Chinese authorities is not accurate.
“But we are not commenting on the content because we are in a negotiating process.”
