China’s largest telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has announced plans on May 7, Thursday, to open a new research institute in Belgium’s capital city of Brussels, also home to the European Union headquarters, as the company expands its clout over the increasingly important European market, the Global Times reported.
According to the report, the new European Research Institute will serve as a hub to conduct research in 5G telecom technology with its European partners and manage the company's 18 research and development sites in Europe.
The report said that the move was part of a strategy plan by Huawei executive, including its founder Ren Zhengfei, to shift away from the U.S.--where cybersecurity has become a stumbling block for the Chinese firm--and move toward Europe where clients such as Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and Vodafone are expected to provide potential growth.
According to the report of the privately held company, sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 20 percent in 2014 to 101 billion yuan ($16.27 billion), which far exceeds any region except China, with a sales growth of only 31 percent.
The Shenzhen-based company considered European governments to be more friendly and accommodating, as the firm pledged to double its number of research and development employees in the continent to 1,700 last year, the report added.
Huawei, however, declined to reveal the amount that the company had invested in the new institute, although chief executive Guo Ping said in a statement that the company expressed its view on Europe as a place with a "favorable industrial environment."
The executive added that they would continue to enhance their cooperation with the European telecom industry and the academia.