At the meeting with George Osborne, Ren Zhengfei confirmed that a new R&D centre will be opened as part of Huawei's US$2 billion investment commitment to the UK. Currently, Huawei employs over 80 R&D engineers in its existing UK R&D office in Ipswich. Following today’s announcement, Huawei will employ a total of 300 staff in high-tech R&D positions in the UK by 2017. The total investment in the new centre will be US$200 million, with research focusing on optoelectronics, device design, software development and other fields, benefiting Huawei's customers in 140 markets around the world. The location of the new R&D centre will be announced at a later date.
UK Tech trade delegation visits Huawei HQ
During George Osborne’s visit, Huawei hosted a delegation of 20 UK high-tech companies. The delegation, visiting the Huawei campus as part of a three-day visit to China, also met teams from Huawei R&D, procurement, corporate development and other departments, to explore more opportunities for commercial cooperation. A number of the high-tech companies comprising the delegation already work closely with Huawei, including BT.
George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: "One of the most exciting opportunities for collaboration between Britain and China in the next step of our relationship is between our cutting edge, high-tech companies. So I am delighted to be visiting Huawei's headquarters with leaders of some of Britain’s most entrepreneurial tech companies to welcome Huawei's investment into the UK."
Ren Zhengfei, Huawei Founder and CEO, said: “I am proud to welcome the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to our headquarters in Shenzhen. The UK is home to some of the best high-tech professionals in the world. Their creativity is a major asset to our R&D efforts, helping us produce the most advanced and competitive telecoms and broadband services available. Combined with an open and free-trade economy, this makes it a very good investment environment for Huawei. I have every confidence in Huawei's future in the UK.”