Having flown to Beijing, India-born Satya Nadella promised to extend complete co-operation to the Chinese authorities in the anti-trust investigation pending against Microsoft, while interacting with the high-level executives during a meeting that is mostly being depicted as a conciliatory encounter by the China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which is one of three antitrust agencies in China.
The chief of the SAIC, Zhang Mao, launched the investigation in August accusing the American multinational corporation of sinister shenanigans. Embroiled in an anti-monopoly investigation, Microsoft’s offices in China were raided earlier this year. Reports claimed that evidence has been seized from multiple Microsoft offices across the country and top-notch officers have been called in for interrogation.
Microsoft Corp CEO Nadella has expressed his faith that the government probe will be fair and transparent, if the SAIC website is anything to go by. The same source reveals that Zhang has also assured him of a fair and transparent inquiry, and has said that his agency will be happy to answer Microsoft’s questions pertaining to the probe, and will also look into the suggestions forwarded by the company specialising in the manufacture of computer hardware and software.
While Microsoft chose to remain silent on the minutes of the meeting, the only statement issued by the company with regard to the probe says that it is “serious about complying with China’s laws and committed to addressing SAIC’s questions and concerns.”
At an earlier stage of the investigation, a spokesperson of the Redmond-based firm had stated, “We aim to build products that deliver the features, security and reliability customers expect and we’re happy to answer the government’s questions.”
