Reuters Beijing
MICROSOFT chief executive Satya Nadella had promised to co-operate fully with Chinese authorities in their antitrust investigation into the company during a meeting with a top regulator in Beijing, the Chinese government said at the weekend.
Microsoft has been ensnared in an anti-monopoly investigation by China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which has already seized evidence from multiple Microsoft offices across China and summoned high-level executives for questioning.
Nadella met SAIC chief Zhang Mao on Friday in what was portrayed as a conciliatory encounter by SAIC, one of three antitrust agencies in China.
Microsoft would turn over information requested by investigators in a timely fashion, while the company was confident the government probe would be fair and transparent, Nadella told Zhang, according to an account published on the SAIC website.
Microsoft declined to comment on the government meeting but said it was “serious about complying with China’s laws and committed to addressing SAIC’s questions and concerns”.
Nadella visited the Chinese capital as part of his first trip to Asia as chief executive.