（Source：Global Times，2026-09-16）
China on Wednesday urged the EU to heed rational voices from within Europe and avoid adopting discriminatory restrictions, after 17 leading European telecom executives signed an open letter warning that a proposed revision to the EU Cybersecurity Act could force the sector to spend up to an additional 40 billion euros ($46.1 billion) on equipment replacement.
At a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that the latest open letter from European telecom firms once again shows that the EU's approach is "harmful to others and costly to itself."
The open letter, released on Tuesday by European telecom lobbying group Connect Europe, said that the planned cybersecurity revision would require European telecom companies to replace equipment at a cost of up to 40 billion euros, media reports said. This would drain the sector of the very capital needed for fiber, 5G and 6G infrastructure.
The letter was signed by 17 senior executives, among them the chief executives of Orange Group of France, Deutsche Telekom of Germany and Telefónica S.A. of Spain.
Guo said that previous assessments had already indicated that the Cybersecurity Act could cause losses of more than 360 billion euros to the EU over the next five years.
"Protectionism will not bring competitiveness," Guo said, adding that such measures would only cause Europe to miss opportunities in digital transformation, undermine its economic and social development, tarnish its image as an open market, and dampen foreign companies' confidence in investing in the EU.
He said that China hopes the EU will heed the voice of reason across various sectors and not adopt discriminatory restrictions. The telecom executives' appeal reflects a broader worry in Europe's industry circles: that sweeping restrictions on trusted suppliers could raise costs, delay network rollouts and weaken the bloc's technological competitiveness at a time when it is racing to expand its digital infrastructure, Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
AFP reported on Tuesday that the proposed revision is still being negotiated among the European Parliament and the governments of the EU's 27 member states. It follows a 2023 push by the European Commission urging countries to strip Huawei and ZTE from their mobile networks over security concerns. However, the appeal has yielded only patchy results, the AFP report said.
Jian said that the latest pushback from telecom executives signals that European companies are increasingly concerned about the economic consequences of politicizing supply-chain decisions in the telecom sector.
According to Jian, the controversy also carries implications beyond the telecom sector. China has repeatedly emphasized that cooperation with Europe should be based on fairness, openness and mutual benefit.
He urged the EU to strengthen practical cooperation with China in the telecom and digital sectors, saying that both sides should avoid politicizing supply-chain issues and instead work together to maintain open markets, reduce costs, and accelerate digital infrastructure development for the benefit of businesses and consumers on both sides.
The debate over the EU Cybersecurity Act revision comes amid complex economic and trade ties between China and Europe. According to Reuters on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU "will use every possible means to reduce its trade deficit trade with China."
Experts warned that if the EU continues to pursue discriminatory restrictions and protectionism, it may raise costs for European firms, slow technological upgrading and weaken the bloc's ability to compete globally.
"The more constructive path would be to keep trade and technology issues within a framework of dialogue, transparency and non-discrimination, so that China and the EU can stabilize economic relations and expand practical cooperation," Jian said.
