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* Company excluded from $38 billion broadband network
* Atty Gen cites new briefings from security agencies
* China calls concerns pretext to interfere with trade
SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australia's newly electedconservative government is upholding a ban on China's HuaweiTechnologies Co Ltd from bidding for work on thecountry's $38 billion National Broadband Network (NBN), theattorney-general said on Tuesday.
The former Labor government cited cyber-security concernswhen it banned Huawei, the world's largest supplier of telecomnetwork equipment by revenue, from bidding for contracts on theinfrastructure rollout last year.
Some senior officials in the new Liberal-led Coalitiongovernment, including Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull,had supported a review of the ban, raising expectations it wouldbe scrapped.
But Attorney-General George Brandis said the government haddecided not to change the policy, citing new briefings fromAustralia's national security agencies.
"Since the election the new government has had furtherbriefings from the national security agencies. No decision hasbeen made by the new government to change the existing policy,"Brandis said in an email to Reuters.
"The decision of the previous government not to permitHuawei to tender for the NBN was made on advice from thenational security agencies. That decision was supported by thethen opposition after we received our own briefings from thoseagencies," he said.
The government would not comment on advice from the nationalsecurity agencies, he added.
China, a major trading partner in the midst of negotiationson a free-trade agreement with Australia, expressed concern.
"We...consistently oppose using national security concernsas a pretext to interfere with the two countries' normaleconomic cooperation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman HuaChunying told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
"We hope all sides can make joint efforts to engage innormal cooperation and create good conditions for each others'companies on the basis of market principles and on thefoundation of mutual respect and equality."
The move could please Australia's traditional ally, theUnited States, where lawmakers have warned against awardingHuawei major contracts over spying fears.
The U.S. House Intelligence Committee last year describedHuawei as a national security threat and urged American firms tostop doing business with the Shenzhen-based company. Huawei hasdenied the U.S. allegations that its equipment could be used byBeijing for espionage.
The British government said in July that checks on Huawei'srole in British telecommunications infrastructure had been"insufficiently robust" in the past, and announced a review ofsecurity at a cyber centre the company runs in southern England.
Huawei spokesman Jeremy Mitchell said the company believedthe Australian government was still reviewing its policy.
"Huawei's understanding is that no decision has been maderegarding the NBN and that the review is ongoing," Mitchell saidin an emailed response after Brandis released his statement.
Huawei has become a significant market force in Australia.It supplies equipment to Singapore Telecom's localunit Optus as well as Vodafone, and has conducted trialswith Australia's biggest telecom company, Telstra Corp Ltd. It also employed former senior Liberal Party officialsas part of its lobbying effort to overturn Australia's ban.
The company, founded in 1987 by former People's LiberationArmy officer Ren Zhengfei, last year proposed building a cybersecurity evaluation centre in Australia.
