VANCOUVER, Sep 24 (AFP): Chinese telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou was freed Friday (Sep 24) after three years of house arrest in Canada, following an agreement with the US Justice Department to suspend the fraud charges against her that had poisoned Beijing's relations with Washington and Ottawa.

Meng - the 49-year-old daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the billionaire founder of world-leading telecoms equipment supplier Huawei - was granted release in a Vancouver court hearing, hours after US prosecutors announced an agreement in New York under which charges are to be suspended and eventually dropped.

She then quickly boarded a flight to the city of Shenzhen, returning to China for the first time since her arrest in Vancouver's international airport at the behest of US authorities on Dec 1, 2018.

Canadian officials can now hope her freedom will lead to China releasing two Canadians, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who were arrested and imprisoned on espionage charges in the days after Meng was detained, in what China's Western critics branded "hostage diplomacy."

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chinese embassy in Canada for their constant support," Meng told reporters after the hearing in Vancouver.

"Over the past three years, my life has been turned upside down. It was a disruptive time for me as a mother, wife and a company executive," she said.

"But I believe every cloud has a silver lining. It really was an invaluable experience in my life," she said.

"The saying goes, the greater the difficulty, the greater the growth."

The resolution of the case removes a deep thorn in the relationship between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa, with China accusing the United States of a political attack on one of the Asian giant's technology titans.

Beijing meanwhile accused Ottawa of doing Washington's bidding by arresting and holding Meng, who was known inside Huawei as the "princess" of the company and its possible future leader.

Following her 2018 arrest, she was confined to a palatial mansion with an ankle bracelet for monitoring her movements in the western Canadian city, as she fought extradition to the United States.

The United States had accused her of fraud against HSBC bank and wire fraud, saying she tried to hide violations of US sanctions on Iran by Huawei affiliate Skycom.