Commission launches in-depth foreign subsidies investigation into Nuctech’s operations in the threat-detection systems market
The Commission has opened an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) into Nuctech’s activities in the EU threat-detection systems market, following preliminary concerns that the company may have benefited from foreign subsidies granted by China that could distort competition.
The investigation concerns Tsinghua Tongfang, a State-controlled Chinese group, and its subsidiaries active in the EU through Nuctech, which manufactures, sells and maintains threat-detection systems such as security and inspection scanners used at airports, ports and border crossings. Nuctech Technology, headquartered in China, controls Nuctech Warsaw in Poland and InsTech Netherlands, with all entities operating in the EU TDS market.
Initial inquiries, including inspections at Nuctech’s EU premises, indicate possible advantages such as grants, preferential tax treatment and favourable loans that may have strengthened the company’s market position and enabled it to submit unusually low bids in public tenders. The Commission will now examine in detail whether these preliminary concerns are justified.
For more information, see the Commission’s PR