The Chinese Company That Could Start a Trade War With Europe
On a brisk April morning in 2024, investigators raided two European offices of Nuctech, a Chinese security equipment company with a vast global footprint.The officials from the European Union seized laptops, confiscated employees’ mobile phones and sifted through documents.They were searching for evidence that the state-backed company, once led by the son of China’s former president Hu Jintao, had gained an unfair advantage while competing to install X-ray scanners and explosive detection systems at border checkpoints in more than two dozen European countries.Nuctech’s footprint is wide.
Its equipment has been installed at airports and seaports in more than 170 countries.The company is also no stranger to scrutiny.
It has been implicated in corruption investigations in Namibia and the Philippines, flagged in Canada for data security concerns and placed on a U.S.national security blacklist.Today, frustration in Europe over the dominance of Chinese companies across many industries is growing, and Nuctech has become a lightning rod for politicians under pressure to protect local companies and jobs.
Concern over industries with potential spying or hacking vulnerabilities is mounting, too.The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is investigating whether government support has given Chinese companies an unfair advantage.It is using a new legal tool to scrutinize public bids by Nuctech and other Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines.At the same time, China has denounced the investigations as “illegal” and an “unjustified suppression of Chinese enterprises.” Since the 2024 raids, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into Nuctech that could lead to divestments and bans.
For the first time, China’s Ministry of Justice responded by publicly ordering Nuctech not to cooperate.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settin...