ZTE Says It Halted Major Operations Following U.S. Sales Ban

Chinese telecom firm’s announcement underscores escalating trade dispute between Washington and Beijing

HONG KONG—Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp. said it halted major business operations, marking the deepest wound inflicted yet in the escalating trade rift between China and the U.S.

The Shenzhen-based company disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday that “major operating activities of the Company have ceased.” The announcement came less than a month after the U.S. Commerce Department banned American companies from selling components to ZTE, the fourth-largest seller of phones in the U.S., according to the research...