People visit the exhibition area of Huawei at the 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 27, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese companies are crucial to the ecosystem of the entire mobile industry, experts from GSMA, an industry group representing the world's biggest mobile phone operators, told Xinhua in recent interviews.

During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona, some media questioned whether Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE were eligible to participate following the "entity list" issued by the United Stats.

A spokesperson for GSMA, organizer of the congress, told Xinhua that the association was fully allowed to conduct activities with companies such as Huawei and ZTE.

"Part of our role, as a global industry association, is precisely to align technological developments for the benefit of people, industries and the society in a fragmented geopolitical environment," the spokesperson said.

Companies such as Huawei "have always been important partners of GSMA and an important part of our ecosystem. We will not shut out Huawei and ZTE," said Lara Dewar, chief marketing officer (CMO) for GSMA.

"China is a leader in 5G and related applications," she said, adding that the country is not just an important market but also plays an important role in how people think, discuss and exchange ideas about how to build the digital world of the future.

John Hoffman, GSMA's CEO, said the number of Chinese attendees during this year's MWC, from Feb. 27 to March 2, reached about 5,000.

Hoffman said that he was very impressed by the huge crowds visiting the stands of the Chinese companies including Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi.

Mats Granryd, director-general of GSMA, said the huge exhibition areas of Huawei and ZTE at the conference site showed the importance of Chinese enterprises to the industry's ecosystem.

Chinese enterprises could bring innovation, scale and advanced technology, which is crucial to the whole industry, he noted.

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