Huawei CEO, Liang Hwa, announced that the company will build its first European factory in France.
According to Reuters, Lianghua said Huawei, the world's largest producer of telecom equipment, would invest 200 million euros ($ 217 million) in the first phase to establish a factory for mobile antenna base stations. He said that the factory will create 500 jobs.
Huawei, which denies its equipment poses a security risk, is at the heart of a storm in which the United States is wrestling against China over the fifth generation, the next mobile phone technology.
"This site will extend the entire European market, not just France ... Our group's activities are global, and for this we need a global industrial foothold," Liang told a news conference.
The fifth generation technology is expected to achieve a huge leap in the speed and capacity of communications and a significant increase in the connections between billions of devices, from smart refrigerators to self-driving cars, which are expected to work on the fifth generation networks.
It was not immediately clear if Huawei's decision was supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, who is wooing foreign investors, but also led warnings about a Chinese invasion of the European Union's economy.
There was no immediate response from Macron's office.
The United States has repeatedly warned European allies not to allow the Chinese company access to fifth-generation infrastructure on the continent. But the capitals of Europe are divided on how to deal with Huawei.
France has not yet begun making its networks available for the fifth generation, but the largest government-controlled mobile operator in France, Orange, has already selected European competitors for Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson.
Puig Telecom and SVR of Altis Europe, two smaller mobile operators, are urging Paris to clarify its position on Huawei. The two companies rely heavily on Huawei in their existing networks.
