(Yicai Global) June 17 -- Huawei Technologies said it is open to working with American companies on setting standards for fifth-generation mobile networks, of which the Chinese telecoms giant is a pioneer, after the US eased its sanctions on the company.

At the start of this week, the US commerce department relaxed restrictions first imposed on Huawei last May due to alleged national security concerns to permit US firms to participate in standards setting bodies on which Huawei sits and to share information about their technologies without the need for an export license.

“We would like to continue holding sincere discussions in relation to standards for new technologies with our counterparts, including those in the US,” Shenzhen-based Huawei said yesterday.

Fundamentally, standards should be set in an open, fair and non-discriminatory manner, while encouraging participation from global suppliers, scientific research institutions, industry organizations and other players, it added.

According to US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, the change aims to ensure “the US industry’s ability to more fully contribute to standards-development activities in the telecommunications sector.”

The move follows a ratcheting up of pressure on the Chinese company only last month, when the US extended its original ban to include semiconductors not only made in the US but also those manufactured in other countries but using US software and technology, inflicting great damage on Huawei’s global supply chain.

Editor: Kim Taylor