The Chinese telecoms company whose role in the construction of Britain’s 5G network has been questioned amid growing security fears has received as much as £57 billion of state aid from Beijing, helping it to expand and undercut its rivals, it is alleged.

A review by The Wall Street Journal of grants, credit facilities, tax breaks and other state assistance shows for the first time the extent to which Huawei has been helped — allegedly enabling it to offer generous financing terms and charge 30 per cent less for network equipment than competitors.

Huawei acknowledged receiving “some policy support” but denied receiving special treatment and claimed the American report was based on “false information and poor reasoning”.

The Times previously revealed that the CIA had