China's Nuctech raided in EU over foreign subsidies concerns

Chinese security equipment company Nuctech confirmed on Wednesday its Rotterdam office was raided by European competition regulators, and that it was cooperating with their investigation. "The Commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation," the Commission said in a statement. A spokesperson for Nuctech's Dutch branch said on Wednesday the Rotterdam office was raided.

Chinese security equipment company Nuctech confirmed on Wednesday its Rotterdam office was raided by European competition regulators, and that it was cooperating with their investigation. The European Commission has launched four investigations against Chinese companies since foreign subisidies regulation introduced in July 2023 allowed the executive to assess whether subsidies allowed companies to submit overly advantageous offers in procurement tenders to edge out EU rivals.

The Commission on Tuesday announced dawn raids at an unnamed company in an unnamed EU country, which could lead to another investigation if the executive finds sufficient evidence of distortive subsidies. "The Commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation," the Commission said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Nuctech's Dutch branch said on Wednesday the Rotterdam office was raided. "We cannot say more at this stage except that we are completely cooperating (with the investigation)," the spokesperson said.

Nuctech, which is partly state-owned, makes security inspection scanners for airports and ports. It was blacklisted by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, Commerce, in 2020. An official from China's commerce ministry earlier condemned the raid, saying it interfered with the normal order of fair competition.

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said it was told that the offices of a Chinese company had been raided in Poland and the Netherlands, with regulators seizing IT equipment and employees' mobile phones and demanding access to data. "The EU's actions send a detrimental message not only to Chinese enterprises but to all non-EU companies conducting business in the bloc," it said in a statement.

"The sudden unannounced inspection on April 23 undermines the business environment for foreign companies within the EU in the disguise of foreign subsidies." It did not give any detail on which companies were targeted.

A Chinese Ministry of Commerce official said in a statement the raid undermined the confidence of all foreign enterprises in their operations in Europe and said China would take all necessary measures to safeguard the rights of its firms.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)