Brussels has raided the offices of a Chinese security equipment supplier, deploying new anti-foreign subsidy powers in a move that will further inflame tensions between the trading superpowers ahead of a planned visit by President Xi Jinping to Europe.

The raid by the European Commission and local law enforcement on the local offices in Poland and the Netherlands of Nuctech, which manufactures products such as airport, seaport and baggage security scanners, came as the EU opened a separate investigation into China’s medical device market, as Brussels flexes its muscles against what it sees as Beijing’s unfair trading practices.

Three official sources with knowledge of the investigation confirmed that the target was Nuctech, whose products have been banned by some western countries, including EU member state Lithuania, on national security grounds.