Huawei CEO speaks out about US allegations

Low-profile company head talks to Chinese media for first time ever

Ren Zhengfei, CEO and founder of Chinese telecommunication equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, did an official interview with Chinese media Monday for the first time ever during a staff awards ceremony.

When asked about the relationship between the company's development and China, Ren mentioned the allegations made against Huawei in the US by authorities there and said the target was actually not the company but China.

As China becomes stronger, the US will increase its "attacks" because it is not willing to see a powerful China, he said.

"And the attacks eventually fall on a specific object [company]," he said, noting Huawei knows there are difficulties and no matter how hard the situation is, the company will try to overcome it.

Huawei has gone through a bumpy development in the US under accusations from the US government about information security.

In 2012, the US Congress released a report claiming Huawei had helped Chinese intelligence infiltrate communications networks in the US.

In March 2013, the US government banned government departments from buying information technology equipment from Chinese companies.

Huawei has repeatedly claimed that the company has no political stance.

The New York Times reported March that Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, said the US agency accessed servers at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen to get sensitive data and monitor executives' communication.

As for the financing issue, Ren said large external capital investment will destroy Huawei's management system and the company has no capital shortage problem.

A large external capital investment will bring Huawei diversification but the company needs to focus rather than be diversified, he said.

Meanwhile, Huawei has about $8 billion to $10 billion in capital for research and development and the company does not have any capital shortage if it does not pursue large-scale expansion and diversification, according to Ren.

But he admitted that Huawei is faced with a drain of talent to listed companies and Internet enterprises and the company is concerned about how to attract excellent talent.

Instead of giving rich incentives to a small number of personnel, Huawei chose to provide a big platform for all staff members to work together, according to Ren.

Ren also answered a question about his successor. He stressed that none of his family members will take over his position and that he had stated this before in a bid to avoid rumors.

Huawei does not lack people who can be its next leader, he said.