The broad market decline came as the arrest of a senior Chinese technology executive overshadowed some positive comments on trade from Beijing, threatening to worsen trade tensions between the USA and China.

"As there is a publication ban in effect, we can not provide any further detail at this time", McLeod said, adding, "The ban was sought by Ms. Meng".

Shares in Asia sank after news emerged that Canadian authorities had detained the mobile phone and tech firm's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, from where she is facing extradition.

"The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng", Huawei said, adding that it complies with all laws where it operates.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department began probing Huawei for potentially violating sanctions that banned the Chinese company from selling equipment to Iran.

The arrest has been strongly protested by Chinese authorities, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing saying: "Detention without giving any reason violates the human rights of the person detained".

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that USA officials were investigating Huawei's ties to Iran.

Earlier this year, the U.S. imposed a seven-year ban on the sale of crucial U.S. components to Chinese smartphone maker ZTE after finding it had failed to take action against staff who were responsible for violating trade sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

Huawei has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and U.S. and other regulations.

In addition to serving as CFO, Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and is the deputy board chair.

The timing of the arrest could not have come at a worse time for Huawei.

"You can play hardball with a small country but you can't do it with the US", he said.

Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of the Global Times, described the arrest as a "declaration of war" against China, according to the New York Times.

Canadian authorities have arrested China-based Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer for possible violations of USA trade sanctions related to sales of HP equipment to Iran a decade ago.

"Americans are grateful that our Canadian partners have arrested the Chief Financial Officer of a giant Chinese telecom company for breaking US sanctions against Iran".

In many respects, the arrest "personified the power struggle between the United States and China", he said. Personnel on U.S. military bases are banned from buying ZTE and Huawei equipment.

Ye Tan, an independent Chinese economist, said Meng's arrest could be used as a "bargaining chip" in the trade talks.

The charges remain unknown but the United States has been probing Huawei over possible violation of sanctions against Iran.

Earlier this year, six top USA intelligence chiefs voiced their concerns about Huawei phones to the Senate Intelligence Committee, with FBI Director Christopher Wray saying he was "deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks".

United States lawmakers have repeatedly accused the company of being a threat to United States national security, arguing that its technology could be used for spying by the Chinese government.

Her detention was made at the request of US authorities.

USA telecommunications firms fear that partnering with Huawei by allowing it to sell their smartphones would anger the federal government and jeopardize future contracts.

Reuters in 2013 reported that Meng was linked to Skycom Tech, a Kong Kong-based company which in late 2010 offered to sell HP equipment worth at least $1.3 million euros to Iran-based Mobile Telecommunication Co.

Experts have suggested that Meng's detention could have negative repercussions for the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing. USA national Security officials were aware of the arrest prior to the news breaking Wednesday evening, a different source said.

"Sometimes Chinese aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it's laundered through many of Beijing's so-called "private" sector entities that are in bed with Xi's communist party", Sasse said.