Huawei to create 5,500 new jobs in Europe

Huawei, China's leading information and communications solution provider, has pledged to diversify its service portfolio in Europe, while the United States has offered no easy market access, its senior executive said.

"Our expansion progress in Europe is different from that in the US, where we have encountered access difficulties due to some groundless reasons given by the American side," Patrick Zhang, president of marketing and solutions, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, told China Daily in the Netherlands.

While continuously enhancing business cooperation with European telecommunications operators, Zhang said providing information technology solutions to European enterprises is a new growth engine for the company in Europe.

Zhang said Huawei started this new business in 2011 and the growth rate is now rapid, with turnover in enterprise business expected to reach $1 billion in the next three to five years.

Huawei's presence in Europe began in 2003 and the company's revenue on the continent reached $4.17 billion last year. It employs more than 7,500 staff in Europe, most of them locals.

Huawei has run 13 research and development sites in eight European countries — Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Britain — and operated dozens of joint innovation centers in partnership with local telecoms and information and communication technology partners.

To boost its European expansion, Huawei is to create 5,500 new jobs in the next five years in Europe, where the jobless rate has reached more than 10 percent on average.

"Apart from research and development input, localization is our key to success," Zhang said.

To further showcase its strength, the company launched an exhibition center in Amstelveen in the Netherlands, featuring global and innovative solutions specifically for the European enterprise market and European customers.

Zhang said Huawei has treated Europe as a second home market in addition to its expansive presence in China and globally. The company has branches in more than 140 countries.

In the enterprise business sector, Huawei said it has encountered tough competition in Europe, but Zhang said he is confident in the company's growth.

"Europe has many enterprises and if we succeed in the European market, we can achieve more globally," he said.

However, in the summer, the European Commission raised barriers against China's mobile and telecommunications products.

In the US, Huawei and fellow Chinese company ZTE have faced allegations since last year that their products pose security risks.

"The reasons (offered by the US) are groundless … the fact is that since the start of our global presence, there has not been one security complaint made against us," Zhang said.

"In contrast, we are always cooperative, and loyally offer security solutions for our partners."