Remarks by Abraham Liu, Huawei Chief Representative to the EU Institutions, at the Chinese New Year Celebration, Brussels, 4 February 2020

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Distinguished Guests,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to Huawei’s Chinese New Year Celebration here in this magnificent location in Brussels.

As you know, this year’s event - and this year - is a very special one for us.

20 years ago Huawei took its first steps in Europe by opening a Research and Development Centre in Sweden.

Since then we have grown – and so have our challenges!

The journey has not always been easy as you know. Indeed last year saw our staff tested more than ever before. And this year – our 20th year in Europe - will probably be no different!

But that’s OK!

Because we believe the trust that Europe has put in us up till now - will be richly rewarded.

And trust is Key.

In an interconnected world reliant on a global supply chain, trust can be based on the confidence that risk management is objective and transparent.

As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently said: "new technologies will never mean new values." We share these values and we believe that it is these frameworks of trust that can mitigate the fears that surround the new technologies, including 5G.

The global supply chain depends on collaboration and building mutual trust. Companies should be treated fairly and equally. A competitive market benefits everyone.

The recent decisions by the UK Government and the EU with the toolbox enabling Huawei to continue to be a major participant in the 5G roll-out, support this.

Their emphasis on a fact-based, fair approach to a multi-vendor model, founded on verification as well as trust is what we believe should be the standard globally.

The tech world – and particularly the world of cyber security is increasingly entangled with geopolitical issues, trade negotiations, and diplomatic dialogue between nations.

Politically motivated suspicion does not address the challenges ahead.

It’s my wish that the three major stakeholders in cyberspace – Europe, the US and China invest more, in political discussion, to talk about collaboration and common rules.

In fact there are two great opportunities this year to affect that political mood with the two EU-China summits coming up. Europe can help drive this change now.

And that’s why it’s important that Huawei is truly an international company – made up of people from all over the world. It’s the human connections and qualities - the trust between people - that ultimately get things done, regardless of any geo-political policies that may try to get in the way.

As I hope you could see from our opening film just now, Huawei is a real European family; made up of Europeans from all over the continent who share a passion for Huawei and their own countries and our common values. They bring a unique European perspective to Huawei and make the company stronger because of it.

Huawei started as a small company in China, but we have grown to be a world leader. And we learned from the rest of the world as we grew – from the US and Europe. You should be proud of our success, as you taught us much of what we know!

So, Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before. We are looking forward to the next 20 years.

We believe we can partner with Europe, playing a major role in achieving its’ digital sovereignty by encouraging innovation, promoting and working with European industry, helping it to become the world’s digital leader.

And we want to be even more integrated. That’s why we have decided we wish to set up manufacturing bases in Europe – so that we can truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe.

So for Europe's digital destiny beyond 2020 with shared values, let's continue to work together to create a better digital future for all.

Thank you for listening, and please enjoy your evening with us.