BARCELONA, Spain, March 3 (Xinhua) — Chinese companies are crucial to the mobile phone industry ecosystem, experts from the World Communications Industry Association told Xinhua in recent interviews. (GSMA), which brings together the main telecom operators.
During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona, some media questioned whether Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE were eligible to participate after being included in the US sanctions list.
A spokesperson for the GSMA, organizer of the MWC, said on this subject that the association was fully authorized to carry out activities with these Chinese companies.
“Part of our role as a global industry association is precisely to align technological developments for the benefit of people, industries and society in a fragmented geopolitical environment,” he said.
Companies such as Huawei “have always been important partners of the GSMA and an important part of our ecosystem. We will not exclude Huawei and ZTE,” said GSMA Chief Marketing Officer Lara Dewar.
“China is a leader in the field of 5G and related applications,” she said, adding that this country is not only an important market, but also plays an important role in the way where people think, discuss and exchange ideas on how to build the digital world of the future.
According to GSMA chief executive John Hoffman, the number of Chinese attendees at this year’s MWC, which was held from Feb. 27 to March 2, reached around 5,000. He said he was very impressed by the crowds that visited the booths of Chinese companies, including Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi.
Mats Granryd, CEO of the GSMA, said the huge exhibition areas of Huawei and ZTE at the MWC show the importance of Chinese companies to the ecosystem of the sector.
Chinese companies can bring innovation, scale and advanced technologies, which are crucial for the entire industry, he noted. END