TELECOM giant Huawei said Tuesday it would set up manufacturing hubs in Europe, as it tries to fight off U.S. pressure on European Union (EU) nations to stop it from operating.

“Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before,” said the company’s top executive for Europe, Abraham Liu, during a Chinese New Year reception in Brussels. “That’s why we have decided we want to set up manufacturing bases in Europe — so that we can truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe.”

The announcement came just days after the EU recommended that member states could ban telecom operators deemed a security risk from critical parts of 5G infrastructure.

But the EU plan, which closely mirrored rules set out by Britain allowing a limited role for Huawei, stopped short of barring the company from the next-generation communications network designed for near-instantaneous data transfers.

Those guidelines were the fruit of months of agonizing within the EU, which has struggled to find a middle way to balance Huawei’s huge dominance in the 5G sector with security concerns pressed by Washington.

Liu in his speech acknowledged that the tech world “is increasingly entangled with geopolitical issues, trade negotiations, and diplomatic dialogue between nations.”

“Politically motivated suspicion does not address the challenges ahead,” he added.

Building factories in Europe would also help persuade EU countries to turn away from tough measures against Huawei, with all eyes on Germany which has delayed its decision on a possible ban.

According to the company, it employs over 13,000 staff and runs two regional centers and 23 research centers in 12 EU countries.(SD-Agencies)