European Union officials have raided the offices of a Chinese company as part of a probe into subsidies, exposing rising tensions between the bloc and one of its biggest trading partners.

The European Commission said Tuesday that it carried out “unannounced inspections” at the premises of a company making and selling security equipment in Europe, which it suspects may have benefited unduly from state subsidies. It did not name the company.

“The commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the (EU’s) internal market,” the EU’s executive body said in a statement on its website.