Huawei CEO, the man of mystery opens up

Huawei founder reveals innermost thoughts to media in rare interview

People usually find themselves impressed when they first see Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's headquarters in Longgang district, Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

Huawei, which manufactures telecoms equipment, has an attractive base, more like a college campus, with a diversity of sections, cafeterias and traditional Chinese-style architecture.

Built beside a lake are several villas that are the offices for Huawei's core management team, including its founder and chief executive officer Ren Zhengfei.

Ren has long been regarded as a "mysterious and tough" man. He rarely appears in public or talks to the media but he led Huawei from nothing to the world's second-largest telecom equipment maker by revenue, only behind Sweden's Ericsson AB.

To the surprise of visitors, Ren revealed a gentle side in developing Huawei's headquarters. A member of his staff, who declined to be named, said Ren loves vegetation so he bought and arranged the planting of many expensive trees to decorate Huawei's garden.

Just as Apple Inc's Steve Jobs imposed his tastes on Apple's retail stores with their glass staircases, Ren employed his design preferences.

Huawei College is a building where the company trains employees. Under its tall glass roof hang dozens of irregularly shaped yellow shades. They add a modern flavor to the internal space but also protect people from the strong sunshine while maintaining enough light under which the indoor plants can grow.

Ren does not lack a sense of romance. There is an old-fashioned wooden train on a lawn at Huawei's HQ. To be precise it is an elegantly decorated train restaurant. Ren likes to entertain guests there.

Anyone who enters Huawei's HQ enjoys a relaxing and free atmosphere, much as one would experience when visiting an Internet company in Silicon Valley. It's a multi-racial community with some employees from partner companies in African countries for whom Huawei provides training.

In recent years Huawei has started to change its method of communicating. At one time it was labeled as a "closed and dangerous" company by Western media. Now it is making a huge effort to change its image on the world stage by inviting reporters to visit its headquarters, disclosing financial figures and arranging high-level management interviews.