Arrest of China executive fuels trade war

The arrest of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou has plunged the world’s biggest supplier of telecoms equipment and second biggest smartphone seller into the trade war between Washington and Beijing


1987, Shenzhen: Former People’s Liberation Army engineer Ren Zhengfei (above) founds Huawei

1990: Launches traditional PBX phone switchboards 

1995: Revenue of RMB1.5 billion – equivalent to US$180 million today – from sales in rural China

1997: Contract with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa opens door to global sales

2005: Huawei wins landmark deal with Britain’s BT to supply equipment to company’s “21st Century
Network” project

2012: After year-long investigation, U.S. House Intelligence Committee concludes that Huawei and ZTE –
fellow Chinese telecom giant – pose threat of “foreign state influence” to U.S. national security

2013: Huawei’s equipment is banned from use on Australia’s National Broadband Network

Intelligence agencies in Germany, Netherlands and Denmark warn of risk of cyber espionage by China

UK sets up “The Cell” – centre to scrutinise Huawei’s code

2018: Huawei overtakes Apple to become world’s No. 2 seller of smartphones, behind Samsung

Dec 1: Meng Wanzhou (above right), Huawei chief financial officer and daughter of founder, is arrested in Canada at request of U.S. government

She faces U.S. charges related to sanctions-breaking business deals with Iran


Huawei revenue ($ billions)

2012: Sells 27.2 million smartphones

2017: Huawei ships 153 million smartphones

34.9	38.8	46.8	62.9	78.5	89.4
2012 	2013 	2014 	2015 	2016 	2017



Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, Huawei 
Pictures: Associated Press
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