(Yicai Global) May 22 -- ZET Corp, which has been subjected to a US software and components sales ban for seven years, has confirmed that Beijing and Washington have agreed to resolve the issue surrounding the telecoms equipment maker, said official WeChat account of Securities Times today.

"The news is true," ZTE was quoted by Securities Times as saying. The company expects the issue to be resolved in a positive way, the financial news outlet said on its official social messaging WeChat account Quanshangcn.

"The U.S. and China have agreed on the broad outline of a deal" that would save Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp., said Wall Street Journal on its website today, citing "people with knowledge of the matter in both countries." The WSJ article was also republished by state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The details are still being worked out, the WSJ said, adding once a deal is reached, the Trump administration will lift the ban on US companies selling software and components to ZTE.

However, it warned that the agreement could still fall apart, citing its sources. Some US media reports also indicated that Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary of Commerce, is scheduled to visit China next week to discuss trade issues, including the ZTE case. Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, is also due in Washington this week for further talks on ZTE, the WSJ said.

"President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast," US President Trump wrote on Twitter on May 13. "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!"

The US Department of Commerce issued a denial order on April 16 that prevents the company from buying American materials and technologies for seven years. The sanction on ZTE, which includes CNY7.6 billion (USD1.2 billion) in penalties, was dished out after the US claimed ZTE failed to comply with an agreement it made to avoid a similar punishment in 2016 for violating American regulations on selling technology to Iran and North Korea.

ZTE halted major business activities related to the use of US-made components and software following the ban. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed in an interview that the Trump administration's measures against ZTE are not meant to "put the company out of business."

Editor: Mevlut Katik