Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has agreed for the company to fully cooperate with the ongoing antitrust probe in China after the head of the Chinese regulator assigned to the cause promised a fair investigation.
Nadella made the agreement during a meeting with the Chinese regulator, according to the government of China.
Microsoft has found itself involved in an anti-monopoly probe that was started this summer by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) of China.
The SAIC has confiscated evidence from several office of Microsoft all over China, and has also brought in top Microsoft executives in China for questioning.
Nadella met with Zhang Mao, the head of the SAIC, last Friday in what is seen as a conciliatory gesture by the agency, which is just one of the three antitrust Chinese agencies.
Nadella told Zhang that Microsoft will cooperate with the investigation through the timely turnover of all the information that the SAIC will request for as the company believes that the SAIC's antitrust investigation of the company will be both fair and transparent.
Nadella added that, through the regulatory practices carried out by the SAIC and the government of China, both Chinese and foreign companies have enjoyed a business environment in the country that fosters growth.
Zhang promised the fairness and transparency of the investigations, and that the SAIC will be welcoming any questions and suggestions that Microsoft has in connection with the antitrust probe.
Microsoft refused to make any comments about the meeting of Nadella and Zhang. However, the company said in a statement that it is "serious about complying with China's laws and committed to addressing SAIC's questions and concerns."
Nadella's visit to China also had the Microsoft CEO talk in front of students of the Tsinghua University located in Beijing, where Nadella praised China as a significant source of human capital and a culture that breeds innovation.
The Microsoft CEO is the latest top executive of a foreign tech company to visit China to ease tensions with regulatory agencies, as the heightened enforcement of the anti-monopoly law that was passed in 2008 has caused foreign companies to worry about their businesses in the country.
Qualcomm President Derek Aberle visited China last month to talk with the National Development and Reform Commission, which is the agency tasked with the antitrust investigation on the company.
The SAIC sent a 20-day notice to Microsoft a few weeks ago to explain several issues regarding the Windows operating system and the Office suite of programs that may have potentially broken antitrust laws.
