China says it hasn’t banned iPhones or foreign devices for government staff

China has not instituted any legal guidelines or rules prohibiting government employees from utilizing or shopping for foreign telephones, the Chinese Foreign Ministry mentioned Wednesday, addressing media experiences that mentioned government staffers had been banned from utilizing Apple iPhones.

“China has not issued any legal guidelines, rules or coverage paperwork prohibiting the acquisition and use of cellphones from foreign manufacturers resembling Apple,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson mentioned at a repeatedly scheduled briefing Wednesday in Beijing.

Apple shares dipped as a lot as 4% final week after The Wall Street Journal reported that staffers at central government companies had been banned from utilizing iPhones for work and even from bringing the smartphones into government workplaces, citing folks acquainted. Bloomberg reported that China deliberate to extend the ban to government-backed companies and state-owned enterprises, citing folks acquainted.

The Journal reported that the directions got out verbally or in discussion groups however that there was not formal steerage on the matter. The Foreign Ministry particularly denied the existence of any official coverage barring foreign telephone use however didn’t tackle the casual steerage reported by the Journal.

Apple shares had been down lower than 1% in early buying and selling Wednesday, a day after the corporate introduced the brand new iPhone 15.

The response from the Foreign Ministry spokesperson additionally famous unspecified “safety incidents” linked to iPhones.

“We have certainly observed lately that many media have uncovered safety incidents associated to Apple cellphones,” the spokesperson mentioned. “The Chinese government attaches nice significance to data and community safety.”

— CNBC’s Eunice Yoon contributed to this report.