WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The Federal

Communications Commission on Monday said it has begun

proceedings to withdraw recognition from seven test labs owned

or controlled by the Chinese government, citing U.S. national

security concerns.

The U.S. telecom agency in May voted to finalize rules

barring Chinese labs deemed risks to U.S. national security from

testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and

computers for use in the United States.

The FCC also said on Monday that U.S. recognition of four

other Chinese labs has expired since May and will not be

renewed, including two that sought extensions.

"Foreign adversary governments should not own and control

the labs that test the devices the FCC certifies as safe for the

U.S. market," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said.

All electronics used in the United States must go through

the FCC's equipment authorization process before they can be

imported. The FCC says about 75% of all electronics are tested

in labs located inside China.

The FCC said it was taking action against companies

including the Chongqing Academy of Information and

Communications; CQC Internet of Vehicles Technical Service Co;

CVC Testing; TUV Rheinland-CCIC Ningbo Co; UL-CCIC;

CESI (Guangzhou) Standards; China Academy of Information and

Communications Technology; Shanghai Institute of Measurement and

Testing Technology and CCIC Southern Testing Co.

The test labs could not immediately be reached.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately

comment Monday but said earlier it opposes the United States

"over-stretching the concept of national security, using

national apparatus and long-arm jurisdiction to bring down

Chinese companies. We oppose turning trade and technological

issues into political weapons."

The FCC previously found many labs appeared to have deep

ties to the Chinese Communist Party, including some connected to

Chinese state-owned-enterprises or the Chinese military. These

labs have tested thousands of devices bound for the U.S. market

over the last several years, the agency added.

The FCC in November 2022 banned approvals of new

telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE (Shenzhen:000063), as well as

telecom and video surveillance equipment from Hytera

Communications Corp, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital

Technology and Zhejiang Dahua Technology

.

In March this year, the FCC said it was investigating nine

Chinese companies, including Huawei, Hikvision, China Mobile

and China Telecom to determine if they

were seeking to evade U.S. restrictions.