China's ZTE plunges 38 percent in resumed trade after $1.4 billion U.S. settlement

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: A ZTE smart phone is pictured in this illustration taken April 17, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Illustration/File Photo

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong-listed shares of China's ZTE Corp <0763.HK> were set to slide 38 percent on Wednesday following a two-month trading suspension after it agreed to pay up to $1.4 billion in penalties to the U.S. government.

China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker was crippled when the United States imposed a seven-year supplier ban on the company in April for breaking a 2017 agreement reached after it was caught illegally trading with Iran and North Korea.

Shares of ZTE were set to open at HK$16, their lowest level in a year, after it confirmed details of an agreement publicised by the U.S. government on Monday.

(Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree and Donny Kwok; Editing by Stephen Coates)