Huawei, one of the most controversial companies in the world, has been at the center of the China-US trade war for years. We got to know the company’s research center in South China.
13:59•Updated 14:38
DONGGUANG We drive the Golf vehicle past the University of Paris and turn onto Strandvägen in Stockholm. In the background, the towers of Heidelberg Castle loom on the hill.
We are neither in Europe nor in the virtual world. We are in southern China at the Ox Horn campus, which is jokingly called the Disneyland of the Chinese tech giant.
Ox Horn is Huawei’s research and product development center. There are more than a hundred buildings here that resemble European landmarks. They employ 30,000 people.
Their goal is to make their employer the world’s technology leader, leaving the US Apple and other biggest competitors far behind.
A difficult decision for an entrepreneur
Ox Horn, which was completed in 2018, is visited by representatives of universities and business life from all over the world, including Finland.
Right now, the manager of the Rovaniemi-based shopping center Rinteenkulma is visiting Pekka Rinne. He thinks about energy solutions.
Rinnetti is particularly interested in the battery technology of the conglomerate, possibly also the data center to be placed on the ground floor, the waste heat of which would heat the entire shopping center.
– In the cold conditions of the North, data centers can operate quite efficiently. No additional cooling technology would be needed, Rinne thinks.
The decision is not easy. Rinne has learned during his long merchant career that becoming a customer of a new technology company practically means a long, even twenty-year commitment to its products and services.
When doing business with the Chinese Huawei, companies also have to take into account the twists and turns of international politics.
– You have to think about them too, because customers in consumer goods can be affected by many things, says Rinne.
Huawei technology in 18 NATO countries
Although Huawei is one of the most controversial companies in the world, its success story has continued unbroken. 267 of the world’s 500 largest companies use its technology.
The company was founded in 1987 in Shenzhen, a neighboring city of Dongguan. It has expanded from a telecommunications equipment manufacturer to the world’s largest network equipment manufacturer. The most recent territorial conquests are in green technology and, for example, in the planning of smart cities.
Shenzhen has grown with Huawei. The city was founded in 1980 as a special economic zone. Today it is a metropolis of about 18 million inhabitants in southern China.
The city’s future also largely depends on Huawei.
Huawei has been at the center of the US-China trade war for seven years. The United States put Huawei on its sanctions list and eventually kicked it out of the market in 2019, accusing it of espionage.
Accusations have also been made in Canada, Australia and several European countries that China’s state espionage apparatus uses Huawei’s 5G technology.
The company denies the charges.
– These claims are not true. In Europe, 18 NATO countries use our 5G solutions. Our business solutions are even sold in the United States, says Huawei Finland’s public relations and communications director Niklas Mannfolk.
In Finland, Huawei has a 20 percent market share in mobile networks. In the next few years, the company plans to grow and expand its product range in Finland, as it does almost everywhere in the world.
In Europe, Huawei invests especially in green technology solutions, such as batteries, charging posts for electric cars and inverters.
– Huawei’s mission is to bring digitization to all people in the world, Mannfolk sums it up dramatically.