Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei is investing £650m in its design centre for mobile phones and a global audit centre in the UK.
The investment will result in the creation of 700 new jobs over the next five years, nearly doubling the size of Huawei’s workforce in the UK from 800 employees to 1,500.
Huawei is set to spend £650m on procurement in the UK over the next five years froom the £311m it currently spends with companies such as UK computer chip manufacturer Arm.
Huawei works with all the major telecommunication operators and broadband service providers in the UK and is involved in supplying ubiquitous, ultra-fast, fixed and mobile broadband across the UK.
“The UK is one of the most important European markets in which Huawei has invested and is an open market,” said Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO at Huawei.
Following discussions with Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Ren added: ‘‘The UK is a centre of innovation, has a highly skilled workforce, and is respected internationally for the quality of its legal and educational systems. It is for these reasons we have selected the UK as the location for a number of our centres of excellence.”
The announcement follows the Great British smoozeathon during the Olympics that included a special business summit for Chinese investors at Lancaster House in London.
Mr Cameron hoped the trade events during the Olympics would boost the UK economy by attracting around £6bn worth of investment from overseas.
“The British Government values the important relationship with China. Both countries have much to offer each other and the business environment we are creating in the UK allows us to maximise this potential,” said the Prime Minister.
