Chinese wireless equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co (華為) said its office in France was searched as part of a preliminary investigation by French financial prosecutors.
The probe is into suspicions of “atteinte a la probite,” a justice ministry official said on Thursday, referring to a catch-all term that could include corruption, misuse of public funds or influence peddling, among other infractions. He declined to provide any further details on the alleged actions.
Huawei France, which is based near Paris, said in an e-mailed statement that the search occurred on Tuesday at its office. It added that it had cooperated fully with the investigations and would continue to do so.
Photo: AFP
“Huawei has been in France for over 20 years, and has been in compliance with all the French laws and regulations,” the company said in the statement. “While Huawei France does not wish to comment on an ongoing investigation, the company remains confident about its conclusions.”
French news Web site l’Informe first reported the probe.
Huawei has research centers in France and is currently building its first production factory outside of China in a town near Strasbourg. In December last year, Huawei France’s co-head Minggang Zhang (張明剛) told radio station France Inter that the factory, which is to produce telecommunications equipment for European markets, is scheduled to open at the end of next year and should employ 500 people in the long run.
Still, a decision by France to keep the company out of some integral parts of its wireless infrastructure, which prompted operators to begin to remove equipment in cities, has weighed on Huawei’s revenue in the country.
Filings by Huawei Technologies France show that the unit’s revenue in the country declined to 992 million euros (US$1.1 billion) in 2022, the most recent year available, from 1.4 billion euros in 2019.
Huawei is still working with French mobile phone carriers, SFR, a unit of Altice France, and Bouygues to deploy their 5G networks, Zhang said in December.
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