Huawei calls US rules 'arbitrary and pernicious'

Huawei has said new US export rules to limit its access to key technology are "arbitrary and pernicious".

The Chinese tech giant warned investors the restrictions would "inevitably" hurt its business, and could damage the global technology industry.

The US had already put Huawei on a blacklist last year, calling the company a national security threat.

A statement said the US was in a relentless pursuit to tighten its stranglehold on our company,

But chairman Guo Ping told an analyst summit on Monday: "Luckily we have survived so far."

The US on Friday said it would require global semiconductor-makers that use US technology and software in chip design to seek US government approval to ship to Huawei.

It said the added control was necessary to close a loophole that had emerged since the US last year moved to cut off Huawei from access to US-made semiconductor chips, which form the backbone of many computer and phone systems.

"Our business will inevitably be impacted," Guo Ping said of the new rules. "In spite of that, as the challenges over the past year have helped us develop a thicker skin, we are confident about finding solutions soon".

Since being put on the US blacklist last year, he said Huawei had been forced to rewrite computer code, review procurement and spend thousands of hours to ensure business continuity.

"Huawei is just like this plane riddled with bullet holes," he said. "Over the past year, patching up the holes was our priority."

However, the firm warned that the new rules would hurt the firm's ability to serve and maintain its networks and services for billions of customers around the world. Huawei said the US campaign against the company would ultimately damage the country's credibility with international companies.

"It will damage the trust and collaboration within the global semiconductor industry and could increase conflict and loss within these industries," it said.