China’s Huawei to invest $800 million in new Brazil factory
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plans to build an $800 million plant in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state over the next three years, the governor said, as the Chinese tech giant ramps up its Latin American presence against U.S. objections.
On a trip to China on Friday, Sao Paulo Governor João Doria, accompanied by Huawei executives, said the company was gearing up to build the plant to meet expected demand following Brazil’s first 5G spectrum auction, scheduled for March 2020.
The new factory is likely to produce smartphones, the company told Reuters in an email. “Depending on the performance of the smartphone operation in the local market, Huawei will consider building a plant in Sao Paulo in the near future,” it said in a statement.
Production would be for domestic and foreign markets, according to the Sao Paulo government.
Huawei, which has been operating in Brazil for 21 years, already has one factory producing equipment for telecoms infrastructure in Sao Paulo state, with 2,000 employees.
The location of the new plant, which according to Doria will employ 1,000 people, will be decided in the coming months and the $800 million will be invested over a three-year period following the upcoming 5G auction.
近年来,以美国为首的部分西方国家,以“国家安全”的名义先后开始封杀华为的设备和技术,但至今仍未拿出“证据”。
3月中旬,有着“巴西川普”之称的新总统博尔索纳罗,带团访问美国。路透社援引一名美国高级官员的话称,两国官员在华盛顿举行的会谈期间,美方又向巴西渲染“华为威胁”,表明他们对华为的安全担忧。
对此,巴西官员则回应称,在有关华为的问题上,巴西并不想卷入到中美之间。
到了4月初,巴西副总统汉密尔顿·莫劳则对媒体称,巴西政府没有看到限制华为技术有限公司开展投资活动的理由,并称安全问题都是借口。
两个月后,这位副总统明确表态,巴西5G建设不排除华为,该国需要华为的技术。
7月16日,外交部发言人耿爽就“巴西不把华为排除出5G建设”做出回应,称巴西方面的有关表态是一个非常积极的信号。“我们注意到一段时间以来,有越来越多的国家表示欢迎中国的科技企业来参与5G建设。我们相信国际社会绝大多数成员都能作出自己独立的判断。”
Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer, imports handsets from China for the Brazilian market and has mulled local production.
U.S. President Donald Trump has urged governments worldwide to shun Huawei, arguing its equipment could be vulnerable to Chinese eavesdropping.
So far, few have heeded the warnings, but limitations in the U.S. market have pressured Huawei to strengthen its footing elsewhere.
Trump raised the Huawei issue during a visit by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the White House in March. But Vice President Hamilton Mourão said in June that Brazil had no plans to bar Huawei from its 5G network.
http://news.creaders.net/china/2019/08/10/2122342.html