BEIJING – Chinese weather balloon manufacturer Zhuzhou Rubber Research & Design Institute has said it has no connection to the balloon shot down by the United States earlier in February, and that it is not a military company.

Zhuzhou Rubber, a unit of Chinese state chemical giant ChemChina, said it “is mainly engaged in manufacturing sounding balloons of natural latex in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations”.

“Our products are used for daily weather forecasting by weather stations, and do not have any connection with the so-called and reported US balloon incident,” it said in a statement posted on ChemChina’s website.

A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, flew over the US and Canada for a week before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast on US President Joe Biden’s orders.

China has called the US handling of the balloon incident “hysterical” and an “absurd” act that violated international norms.

The manufacture of weather balloons in China is dominated by Zhuzhou Rubber, which makes 75 per cent of high-altitude balloons used by the China Meteorological Administration. REUTERS