Huawei CEO holds dialogue with US tech experts

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei had a discussion with two American technological gurus, George Gilder and Nicholas Negroponte, at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen on June 17.

Ren and the two technical experts discussed the industry and way of life at a crossroads.

The CEO believes the artificial intelligence industry is a driving force for human society, and people need to be inclusive and not regard AI as "negative" future technology.

Ren said that Huawei has been committed to business ethics and compliance with laws and regulations since the company was started. "Huawei didn't, and will never steal, intellectual property," he said in the discussion.

The CEO also said the theme of the world is collaboration, and only through collaboration can the world meet the demands of humans.

Here are some highlighted video clips from Ren's talks:

China needs to work hard on innovation

I think a lot of the innovation in China today, though flourishing, is application innovation, which is built upon a global innovation network, the CEO said.

If you take a global view, I think our innovation has setbacks, and we need to work hard in our basic theory and education, he added.

Huawei open to university, scientist partnerships

Huawei is always willing to work together with universities and scientists, the CEO said. We also follow the Bayh-Dole Act of the United States in working together with universities -- we make investments but do not seek any achievement from the partnerships, Ren added.

The CEO also said that there are so many universities out there and there will always be someone who wants to work with Huawei.

Huawei a 'company with ethics'

Huawei is a normative company with ethics; although the company is locked in a series of lawsuits on intellectual property, it still believes American courts' judgments will be equitable and fair, Ren said.

Some reports saying that Huawei steals patents, this is impossible, Ren added.

Huawei has many patents for 5G, but will not use these patents as weapon to restrain the development of human society, Ren said.

In the future, Huawei will not overcharge other companies using its patents, said Ren.

Huawei will not substantially reduce employee headcount

Huawei will not substantially reduce staff headcount, but business consolidation is ongoing, Ren said.

The company has successfully reallocated employees from non-core to core business without unrest in society or the company.

The restructuring of the company is not due to attack or a business downturn, but because some areas are not core business and the company wants to focus on key sectors.

CGTN contributed to this story