Trump says no plans to 'artificially' ban 5G firms

US President Donald Trump said on Friday in Washington that he doesn't seek to "artificially" block any company, including Huawei, from the US 5G market based on excuses or security concerns.

The move came after Trump tweeted earlier that he wanted "5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible."

"I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more-advanced technologies," Trump added.

Following Trump's comments, Hu Houkun, Huawei's rotating chairman said in the tweet, "Huawei is always ready to help build a real 5G network in the US, through competition."

Answering a question by China Daily, Trump explained what that part of his tweet meant: "I'd like to have all companies be able to compete. I don't want to artificially block people out based on excuses or based on security. I don't want to have a security problem."

Asked if China's 5G technology leader Huawei is included among the companies, Trump said, "I'm talking about everybody, really - including (Huawei)."

Trump said that he wants to have "great 5G".

"But I want to have competition with China, fair competition. I don't want to block out anybody if we can help it."

Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business, also forwarded the news in a Chinese social media platform, saying that "it is fair competition that wins cooperation and respect".

Li Junhui, a senior research fellow at China University of Political Science and Law, said, "The latest words from both the US and Huawei are positive signals."

Huawei, the world's largest telecom equipment maker, has been steadily increasing its 5G contracts despite difficulties it faces in some foreign markets.

The firm has secured 30 5G contracts in overseas markets including Europe and the Middle East. It had also shipped over 25,000 5G base stations to the world by the end of last month, up from the 10,000 it disclosed in late December.