EU suspends trade case on eve of summit

The EU stalled a controversial trade case against two Chinese telecommunication companies on the eve of what is expected to be Premier Wen Jiabao’s final official visit to Europe, Financial Times reported. Although the delay on the trade dumping dispute was announced just one day before the leadership summit, the EU Trade Commission maintained the move was unrelated to Wen’s visit. The case would need stronger evidence before it could proceed, Karel De Gucht, EU trade commissioner, told officials. In a meeting in late May, however, De Gucht’s office told EU diplomats it had compiled “very solid evidence” against Chinese telecom firms Huawei (002502:SHE) and ZTE Corp (0763:HKG, 000063:SHE). The companies, two of the biggest telecom device makers in the world, are accused of receiving non-competitive loans and subsidies from Chinese banks. Ericsson (ERIC-B:STO), Siemens-Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU:NYSE), three major European telecom equipment companies with interests in China, have declined to participate in the case.