A concept picture of 5G chip Photo: VCG

The US has reportedly tightened rules on telecoms gear made by Chinese companies "deemed a national security risk," citing the so-called "Covered List," a move which an analyst said would only "shoot themselves in the foot" as the move will drastically drive up American telecom cost and delay its relevant industries' development.

Also, the US-claimed "national security risks" posed by Chinese-made devices 'do not stand a ground,' as the US has been fabricating such allegations for years yet never provided a single piece of evidence, the Chinese analyst said, stressing that the list is just another pretext created by the US to target Chinese tech companies.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-0 on Tuesday to block new approvals for devices with parts from companies on its "Covered List" and to allow the agency to bar previously approved equipment in certain cases, the Reuters reported.

The telecoms regulator previously named Chinese companies including Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile and China Telecom to the so-called "Covered List," which bars the FCC from authorizing the import or sale of new equipment from those companies, according to the Reuters report.

Xiang Ligang, a Chinese telecom industry expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the US is again generalizing the concept of national security to attack Chinese tech companies. "The US side has been hyping the concept for many years, but to date the telecom regulator fails to provide any piece of evidence. Isn't this the clearest proof that their allegations are groundless?" Xiang said.

Earlier this month, Carr said major US online retail websites had removed several million listings for prohibited Chinese electronics as part of a crackdown by the agency, according to the Reuters report.

The Chinese analyst warned the US against the dire consequence of the new restrictive measure on its own telecoms industry.

"Chinese telecom companies deliver one of the best telecom technologies in the world at a competitive price. The US will struggle to find substitutes, and any attempt to phase out Chinese suppliers will incur much higher cost and significantly delayits 5G rollout and development of related industries," Xiang said.

He gave example of the slow progress and hefty cost of FCC's $3-billion "rip-and-replace" program, which aims to remove equipment from China-based vendors from US telecom networks.

According to estimates by analyst at Recon Analytics, Huawei and ZTE charged 30 to 50 percent less than their market rivals, Reuters reported.