Huawei to Bring 5500 More Jobs to Europe

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China's Huawei Bringing 5,500 Jobs...To Europe - Forbes

Telecommunications equipment maker Huawei said Friday that it was going to expand its service in Europe over the next five years, hiring 5,500 new employees"¦in Europe.

In a jab to Washington policy makers wary over Chinese spying, Huawei marketing chief Patrick Zhang said Europe is easier to do business with than Americans. And so the jobs will go there instead. (Thank you, Washington. Because Washington doesn't spy on anyone.)

"Our expansion progress in Europe is different from that in the U.S., where we have encountered access difficulties due to some groundless reasons given by the American side," Zhang told China Daily in a story published Friday.

"The fact is that since the start of our global presence, there has not been one security complaint made against us," he said.

Huawei's new hires will be working in the company's new IT solutions space in the company's biggest European markets. Zhang called IT services a "growth engine" for the firm.

Huawei's promise for jobs in a region clamoring for employment could of course fall flat, especially if it is used as leverage to get the European Commission to reduce tariffs on its key products. For their part, the Europeans would like to see China open up its telecom market to their multinationals. Every now and then, the two sides get on each others nerves.

This summer, the European Commission raised import tariffs on all of China made mobile and telecommunications equipment. China is the biggest target of trade defense investigations in the European Union.

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.

Chinese direct investment in Europe is driven primarily by commercial motives, said a report by the Rhodium Group. Direct political guidance has played a minor role in Chinese investment in Europe thus far. China's industrial policies and incentives such as low cost of capital are also impacting investment decisions as to where Chinese firms are heading abroad. However, most Chinese executives are motivated by profit. Europe's weak economy has governments there laying down the red carpet for companies who can create jobs.

Huawei may have a bone to pick with the U.S., and vice-versa. But China is not slighting the U.S. by giving all its money to Europe.

Direct investment from Asia accounts for 4% of the European Union's inbound foreign direct investment (FDI), with Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong in the lead. Individually, China's FDI investments into Europe remains trivial compared to the aggregate. By official Eurostat statistics, China's European bound investments in 2010 were $8.9 billion, less than one-tenth of 1% of the E.U. total.

Numbers don't lie. And the 5,500 new hires over the next five years, if Huawei's IT venture proves a wise investment, won't mind that China's not the biggest kid on the block.
 

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