Huawei dismisses claims over Beijing ties

Huawei has denied that the telecoms group has taken subsidies from the Chinese state as Guo Ping, chief executive and longstanding confidant of founder Ren Zhengfei, stressed the company’s independence in his first interview with foreign media.

Addressing allegations that Beijing had supported Chinese telecoms groups through illegal export subsidies, Mr Guo said that “even if there are subsidies given, it would not be to Huawei”.

He said that in China, Huawei was “very famous for being a private company”, adding: “In Europe we abide by all the laws and regulations, and just like our European peers in China, who need to abide by all the applicable laws and regulations.”

Mr Guo said Huawei would meet “fierce competition” in the telecoms industry through continued high investment in research and development.

The group invested $4.8bn in research last year, he told the Financial Times at Mobile World Congress, the telecoms event in Barcelona this week, where Huawei illustrated its ambitions by attending with one of the largest delegations.

Mr Guo played down rumours of a float, saying moderation in the speed of growth for Huawei meant there was no need to raise cash in the public market.

He is one of three “rotating chief executives” at the group, and heads its finance committee.

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“In the rapid pace of development of Huawei, there might be a need for a company to go public for cash reasons, but now, since the growth is not as rapid as in the past, the momentum is not sufficient for us to go public and gain more cash flows.”

Even so, he did not rule out the possibility.

Analysts have suggested a listing could aid wider efforts to create transparency at a group that has been dogged by rumoured links to the Chinese state.

He said: “It is our commitment to the outside world that we will try to be more open and transparent.

“On shareholdings, we will also be more transparent, and in this year’s annual report there will be more information on the founder and the supervisory board.”

Mr Guo said Huawei would continue to try to engage with customers in the US in spite of a congressional report that criticised Huawei for lack of transparency and recommended that the company be blocked from doing business in the country.

He said: “The US market is the largest single market in the world for telecommunications. It is certainly an attractive market. As we talk about what difficulties we have encountered, we need to be patient. It takes time for customers and end-users to understand what value Huawei is creating.”