PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday France was not excluding any company including China’s Huawei from its next-generation 5G mobile market but that his strategy was one based on European sovereignty.

Macron said Europe had two leading suppliers, Ericsson and Nokia, who offered Europe a “genuine industrial solution, fully secured”.

Macron, speaking at a news conference, said he had told Chinese President Xi Jinping: “You would do the same as me back home”.

Three sources told Reuters last month that French authorities have told telecoms operators planning to buy Huawei 5G equipment that they will not be able to renew licences for the gear once they expire, effectively phasing the Chinese firm out of mobile networks.

(Reporting by Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Copyright 2020 Thomson Reuters.