More EU companies are being forced by China to hand over technology, study says

Chinese workers
The People's Daily over the weekend said the US had 'purely fabricated' claims foreign companies were being forced to transfer tech Credit: Getty Images

European businesses are increasingly being pressured into handing over technology in China to gain access to the market, in a practice branded "unacceptable" by a prominent EU business group. 

According to a survey by the European Chamber of Commerce, around 20pc of members said they had felt compelled to transfer technology in China, up from 10pc two years earlier. 

More than a third of those which had experienced a forced technology transfer said it had happened less than two years ago, and a quarter said it was ongoing.

Charlotte Roule, the European Chamber vice president, said there may be a number of reasons for the practice, but that, "either way, it is unacceptable that this practice continues in a market as mature and innovative as China".

“Unfortunately, our members have reported that compelled technology transfers not only persist, but that they happen at double the rate of two years ago,” she added.

Beijing has repeatedly denied such allegations. The flagship newspaper of the Communist Party, the People's Daily, over the weekend said the US had "purely fabricated" claims foreign companies were being forced to transfer tech.

In an opinion piece published on Saturday, the newspaper wrote: “A lie repeated a thousand times still is a lie. Maybe what’s really pricking the nerves of the Americans are China’s rapid-developing innovation capabilities and technological achievements.”

The survey, which was conducted in January and February, also suggested that it had become more difficult for European companies to do business in China. 

The biggest concern flagged by European businesses was China's economic slowdown, although they also cited worsening relations between the US and China.

Tensions between the two countries have mounted recently, with both sides imposing heavy tariffs on the other. 

US President Donald Trump last week blacklisted China's largest tech company Huawei, introducing new restrictions to make it tougher for the company to do business with American firms. 

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