Huawei on Sunday said that it initiated arbitration proceedings against Sweden under the World Bank Group after the country banned the Chinese tech giant from releasing 5G products.
In a statement to Agence France-Presse (via South China Morning Post), the Chinese company said, “The Swedish authorities’ decision to discriminate against Huawei and exclude it from the 5G roll-out has significantly harmed Huawei’s investment in Sweden, in breach of Sweden’s international obligations.”
As a result, Huawei had to initiate arbitration proceedings under the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) “against the Kingdom of Sweden following a number of measures taken by the Swedish authorities targeting directly Huawei’s investments in Sweden and excluding Huawei from the roll-out of 5G network products and services in the country.”
Sweden has become the second country in Europe following the UK, and the first in the EU, to ban network operators from using Huawei equipment in their 5G products. The country has ordered Huawei to remove equipment that’s already been installed by January 1, 2025.
Huawei did not specify the damages it was seeking but it’s reported by broadcaster SVT that the initial sum stood at 5.2 billion Swedish Kroner ($550 million), although it could end up reaching much higher.
The ban has strained Swedish-Chinese relations, with Beijing warning earlier that it could have “consequences” for the Nordic country’s companies in China.
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