HSBC denies 'framing' Huawei, says it didn't participate in US legal probe

People's Daily, China's state-run newspaper, says HSBC has been 'setting traps' for the company since 2012

HSBC on Saturday denied Chinese media reports that it had "framed" Huawei Technologies and played a role in the arrest of the chief financial officer (CFO) of the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker.

In a statement posted on the bank's Chinese WeChat messaging service account, the London-headquartered lender said it did not participate in the decision of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Huawei.

The HSBC statement comes a day after China's official People's Daily newspaper published a report accusing HSBC of being an accomplice of the United States and lying about Huawei, resulting in the arrest of its CFO Meng