China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer at Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States.

The ministry also asked the US to clarify why it had requested authorities to detain Meng, who is also deputy chair of Huawei's board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. She was detained last week as she changed planes in Vancouver.

Meng is facing extradition to the US, where prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Canada's Justice Department said earlier that a bail hearing had been set for Friday but did not disclose further details due to a publication ban.

Huawei, the world's largest maker of cellular-tower electronics and other telecommunications equipment, said it had been provided with "very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng."