China’s Foreign Ministry Responded to U.S.’ Potential Ban on Hikvision

According to Reuters, the U.S. administration is considering sanctions on Hikvision, a video surveillance firm.

SEE ALSO: Huawei might find its way around US sanctions thanks to Hisilicon

Hikvision, with a market value of more than $37 billion, calls itself the world’s largest video surveillance gear maker. Its products are used in public places in China, from Beijing to Xinjiang. Headquartered in Hangzhou, which is also the hometown of Alibaba. The firm sells close-circuit TV products, traffic and thermal cameras, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The company is currently at a critical stage facing both internal and external troubles.

In the first quarter of 2019, the company’s net profit negatively. The Investor Network mentioned that the government and enterprise procurement occupied most of the market in the video surveillance industry, and the slowing demand from the government and these enterprises contributed to the decline.

At the same time, the company’s major shareholders have reduced their holdings sharply. Gong Hongjia, one of the founders of Hikvision, has cashed out over 14.6 billion yuan since Hikvision’s IPO on China’s A-share. His share-holding ratio has decreased from 24.8 percent at the beginning of the listing to 13.43 percent today. At a time, Guo Hongjia was even called the “A-share cash king”.

Since April, Hikvision’s share price has plunged all the way, from 37.24 CNY on April 2, to 26.07 CNY today.

On May 22, China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday urged the United States to provide a fair environment for Chinese firms, in the wake of reports Hikvision could be blacklisted.

“Recently we have repeatedly expressed China’s position of opposing the United States’ abuse of national power to willfully smear and suppress other countries’ companies, including Chinese companies,” ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a briefing. China requires its companies to abide by international norms when investing abroad, but “at the same time we always demand that other countries give Chinese enterprises fair and non-discriminatory treatment”, he added.

Featured photo credit to Hikvision