Huawei reaffirms commitment to Europe despite macro-environment uncertainties

Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co has highlighted its commitment to the European market, reaffirming cooperation as a driving force behind integration of innovative economies, societies and individuals.

Catherine Chen, Huawei corporate senior vice-president and director of the board at Huawei, said over the past 20 years, Huawei has become a European company, contributing to the development of local information and communications technology industry and creating value and promoting digital ecosystems.

"Today, despite the challenges brought by COVID-19 and the uncertainties in our macro-environment, we are as determined as ever to be in Europe and for Europe," Chen said.

In her opening speech on Huawei's European Innovation Day, an annual event held online last week, Chen said more efforts are needed to build an ecosystem to train talent that is based on open collaboration and sharing around the world.

"Talent and ideas both spring forth from meetings of the minds. The sparks generated during these exchanges of idea will benefit all of humanity, regardless of whose name is on them," Chen said.

This year's European Innovation Day event also marked 20th anniversary of Huawei in Europe and its long-standing commitment to the digital development of the continent as part of the company's 'In Europe for Europe' strategy.

In 2019, Huawei contributed 16.4 billion euros ($19.5 billion) to Europe's GDP and supported 224,300 jobs, according to a report released by research agency Oxford Economics.

The report, titled The Economic Impact of Huawei, also found that the company generated 6.6 billion euros in tax revenues for European authorities during 2019.

Huawei has also played an active role in research and development across Europe. The 2019 EU Industrial Investment Scoreboard ranked Huawei as the world's fifth-largest R&D investor. The European Patent Office also noted that Huawei topped its ranking for patent applications in 2019.

"Investment in R&D—like that undertaken by Huawei—is crucial to a general increase in the productive capabilities in the European economy," said Pete Collings, Director of Europe and Middle East Economic Impact Consulting at Oxford Economics.

Abraham Liu, Huawei's chief representative to the EU Institutions, said in 2019, Huawei's operations generated a direct contribution of 2.8 billion euros to European GDP, an average growth of 11.4 percent annually over the past five years.

"In this unconventional year, Huawei has ensured stable, secure network operations to help people work and learn online. Huawei has operated in Europe for 20 years and has worked hard to deeply integrate into local communities to jointly promote industry development. In the future, we will continue to work with our partners to overcome new challenges and create more value," Liu said.