Ren Zhengfei

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said in a company internal memo that the company should recruit more foreign talent and turn its North America research and development (R&D) center into a recruitment platform, according to a screenshot of the memo circulating online on Tuesday.

In the memo dated August 21, Ren urged to transfer Huawei’s R&D center in North America into a talent recruitment center, which is a notable move given the major difficulties and hurdles the company face in the US. 

Huawei’s North American R&D center was initially located in the US, but Ren said in December 2019 that the company would move the center to Canada, according to several media reports at the time. It was not immediately clear whether the center had been moved.

While Ren’s internal memo became public several days after his daughter and Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou safely returned to China after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Justice Department, it appears to be issued before her high-profile release and safe return.

In the internal memo, Ren stressed that Huawei will attract skilled talent from across the world amid a crucial period for the company’s “strategic survival and development,” saying that as long as they are talented, they can join our “fight” with a “surgical knife.

Ren also urged to build bonds with foreign talent in order to draw them to China for work, adding that the company should encourage foreign talent in product development to come to work in China and support European and US doctoral students to come to China for research. 

Global Times