US lifts ban on sales to China's ZTE

The US Department of Commerce lifted a ban on US companies selling goods to ZTE Corp. The Commerce Department had said it removed the ban after ZTE paid a $1.4 billion penalty.

The ban was imposed in April 2018 to punish ZTE for violating US sanctions against Iran and North Korea by providing telecoms equipment to these countries.

On July 13, ZTE said it would record a net loss in the first half of the year due to the US ban.

It estimated a preliminary net loss of 7.0-9.0 billion yuan ($1.05-1.34 billion) in January to June versus a profit of 2.3 billion yuan during the same period last year.