EU telecom demands raise tensions with China

According to a report in the Financial Times, Europe's top trade official has urged China to grant it a bigger share of the Chinese market in telecoms network equipment.

The EU trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, is reported to have requested a 30 percent share of China's telecoms market to EU suppliers in return for dropping a highly contentious EU investigation into alleged subsidies to Chinese companies.

It's also claimed De Gucht is insisting that Chinese telecom suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp raise the price of their exports by 29%. The case centres on Brussels' contention that Beijing has awarded illegal export subsidies to the two companies in order to fuel their growth in foreign markets.

A delegation from China's Ministry of Commerce met with top EU trade officials on Friday to seek a way to settle the issue without sparking a trade war.

The EU is currently carrying out its biggest ever anti-dumping investigation into Chinese solar panel exports. It's expected to make a formal decision on whether to impose temporary duties by the end of May.