China has urged Qualcomm to start making money with local partners

China’s top Internet regulator publicly challenged the president of Qualcomm saying half the company’s revenue comes from China and that “we should make money together.” The comments Wednesday from Lu Wei, China’s minister of cyberspace affairs, come amid an investigation into the U.S. chipmaker by Chinese antimonopoly officials. Qualcomm has said it is cooperating. Mr. Lu was speaking during a session on the Internet at the World Economic Forum in the north-eastern Chinese city of Tianjin. Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s executive chairman, sat to his left. Mr. Jacobs declined to comment on a question from a Chinese reporter about the antimonopoly probe.

Qualcomm is being urged by a top Chinese regulator to make money in the country in tandem with its local partners. On Wednesday, Lu Wei, the head of China’s State Internet Information Office, weighed in on the country’s anti-monopoly investigation into Qualcomm. He was speaking at a panel during a World Economic Forum event in Tianjin, China, where Qualcomm’s executive chairman Paul Jacobs was also among the speakers. “First, I want to congratulate you,” Lu told Jacobs at the panel, which was also webcast. He pointed to how Qualcomm made US$24 billion in revenue during the company’s last fiscal year, with nearly half of it from China. “This means China is a good place to make money,” he added. “Secondly, I want to tell you, we should make money together. You should work alongside Chinese companies to make money.” China’s National Reform and Development Commission has been investigating Qualcomm since last November, on industry complaints that the company has been overcharging Chinese clients to use its patents. Qualcomm said back in July that the company had 70 Chinese vendors using its 4G LTE patents, and another 120 vendors for its 3G CDMA patents. In response to Lu’s statements, Jacobs said at the panel the U.S. company has been helping Chinese companies to deliver new products to the market. This includes working with over 90 Chinese companies to build devices.