Sweden has become the latest country to ban Chinese telecoms groups Huawei and ZTE from its 5G mobile networks as it took aim at what it labelled Beijing’s spying and “theft of technology”.

Sweden’s telecoms regulator said on Tuesday that following advice from the country’s armed forces and security services it had decided to ban Huawei and ZTE from new installations ahead of next month’s 5G spectrum auctions. It had given telecoms operators until 2025 to remove equipment made by the companies from their existing infrastructure for core functions.

“China is one of the biggest threats to Sweden,” said Klas Friberg, head of Sweden’s security services. He added that China was aiding its economic development and military capabilities by “extensive intelligence gathering and theft of technology, research and development”.