Hong Kong/New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS): China has denied it is prohibiting the purchase or use of Apple iPhones in the country, as several media reports claimed last week that the country has banned iPhones from use by certain government officials.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that there are “no laws, regulations or policy documents in China that prohibit the purchase or use of mobile phones of overseas brands, such as Apple”, according to state-run Global Times.
The Beijing government said that China is committed to opening-up at a high level, protecting the investment rights and interests of foreign investors in accordance with the law, “and creating a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment”.
"We always take an open attitude toward foreign enterprises and welcome them to seize China's development opportunities and share the fruits of China's economic development," Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said late on Wednesday.
Ning said that they recently noticed that there have been a lot of media reports about the security incidents of Apple's mobile phones.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to information and cyber security, and treats both domestic and foreign companies equally," the spokesperson added.
Last week, media reports surfaced that Apple was exposed to two major security flaws that could result in personal data leaks.
China said that all mobile phone companies should strictly abide by its Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law and other relevant laws and regulations.
Shares in Apple fell significantly last week over reports that Chinese government workers have been banned from using iPhones.
The firm's stock market valuation has fallen by more than 6 per cent, or almost $200 billion.
China is the tech giant's third-largest market, accounting for 18 per cent of its total revenue last year.
Apple this week launched the new iPhone 15 series, along with Apple Watches and AirPods Pro (2nd generation).