Huawei to invest US$2 billion in UK

Huawei said that it would invest US$2 billion in UK's research and development centre. The company has announced that Huawei CEO and Founder Ren Zhengfei has met George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen.

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 company mentioned in its statement.

"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," according to a media release.

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."

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.