ZTE

Germany will bar the use of critical components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in core parts of the country's 5G networks in two steps starting in 2026, the nation's top security official have said.

Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, has long mulled what to do about components made by Chinese suppliers in its new-generation cellphone networks.

Beijing announced sanctions on seven American citizens and entities on July 23 in response to a U.S. advisory on deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong, just days ahead of a visit from a senior Biden administration official.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soured on a number of fronts, including human rights, trade, cybersecurity and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visit of Eximbank USA President Kimberly Reed to the Cernavoda nuclear power plant on Tuesday will materialize in project implementation options for reactors 3 and 4, which Nuclearelectrica will submit to its shareholders' approval as soon as possible, Cosmin Ghita, CEO of the energy producer, told a press conference on the plant's platform.

The US regulatory body has proposed rules to block the purchase by telecommunications companies of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE and remove any of their equipment that is already available.

The Federal Communications Commission said the rules - which will be voted on November 19 - are part of an initiative to "protect the country's communications networks".

Shares in Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE surged more than 25 percent in Hong Kong on July 12 after the company moved a step closer to having a painful U.S. purchase ban lifted.

U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly said on May 13 he was working with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to prevent telecom giant ZTE from going out of business after it was hit by an American technology sales ban.

Chinese technology company ZTE said late on May 9 it has halted its main operations after U.S. authorities banned it from doing business with American suppliers.

Chinese telecom giant ZTE has asked the U.S. government to lift a ban on sales to the company, which threatens its survival and has added to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Chinese telecom giant ZTE halted trading of its shares in Hong Kong and Shenzhen on April 17 following the announcement of a U.S. ban on its purchase of sensitive technology that drew a pledge from China to "safeguard" its companies if necessary.

The large-scale Saint Sofia development, initially announced in 2014, has been granted the status of priority investment project and will benefit from a number of state-guaranteed incentives for a three-year-project, the state-controlled Invest Bulgaria Agency told BIRN on Tuesday.