China Direct

Huawei unveils Huawei P8 smartphone in London

 

CBI member Huawei announced that Huawei Consumer Business Group had unveiled the Huawei P8 smartphone at the legendary Old Billingsgate, London’s renowned arts and fashion venue.

The Huawei 8 is a blend of technology, sleek styling, usability, and revolutionary low-light camera features. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said, “The goal of Huawei 8 is to become the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally. Through in-depth market research, Huawei has addressed the most pressing pain points for premium smartphone users today."

He added: "Huawei seamlessly combines the best elements of style and durability in this device, delivering a revolutionary user experience—especially in terms of camera capabilities and network connectivity. Based on the outstanding market performance of Huawei’s P series, we fully believe the Huawei P8 will become one of the most popular smartphones of 2015.”

Please read more here.

CBI holds second annual Chinese New Year Dinner in London

 

 

Last week, the CBI was proud to host our second annual Chinese New Year Dinner, together with sponsor and key CBI member Huawei. The event celebrated China’s business relations with the U.K., explored future opportunities, and marked the beginning of the Year of the Sheep.

Held at the V&A Museum in London, the dinner was attended by several hundred senior representatives from the British and Chinese business communities and featured keynote speakers including Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, Gordon Luo, CEO of Huawei for the U.K. and Ireland, and CBI President Sir Mike Rake.

Please click here to read more about the CBI’s Chinese New Year Dinner.

CBI Member Successes in China - Snapshot of Year of the The Horse

 

Dear CBI members and strategic partners,

China Direct would like to share with you a snapshot of CBI members' successes in China through 2014. We hope that you found our new format easy to use, visual and informative and wish you all every success for the forthcoming year of the sheep.

Please do keep sending us your updates and press releases so that your business can also be highlighted in 2015.

Thank you.

Download CBI Beijing, Member Milestones in China, 2014

Huawei partners with Vodafone for five-year "Project Spring" in Europe and Africa

 

CBI member Huawei recently announced that it had been awarded a five-year agreement by fellow CBI member Vodafone to expand the Single Radio Access Network (SingleRAN) for its "Project Spring" Phase 1 programme across the world.

Under this programme, Huawei will deliver a number of network enhancement projects, including both products and services for Vodafone radio access networks in 15 countries, including the U.K.

Eric Xu, Huawei rotating CEO, said, "Huawei is honoured to have been entrusted by Vodafone with this global project. Over the last few years, together with Vodafone, we have successfully demonstrated the performance, reliability, and efficiency of Huawei's SingleRAN solutions."

"We look forward to working on this extension of our long-standing strategic relationship, which reflects the increasing demand for high-quality mobile broadband networks we are seeing globally as 4G grows in popularity. We believe our innovative technology helps our customers accelerate the transformation of the mobile broadband experience they offer both to consumers and enterprises."

Please click here to read the full press release by Huawei.

Celebrating CBI member success in China: March 2014

 

Dear CBI members and strategic partners,

Anumber of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China this March, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 33 CBI members.

Members mentioned include:

• Airbus
• Anglo American
• Arup
• Atkins
• Balfour Beatty
• Benoy
• BMW Group
• British Airways
• Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
• DHL
• Ford Motor Company
• Gabbitas Education
• GE
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Mott MacDonald
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Pearson
• PepsiCo
• Pinewood Shepperton
• PwC
• Rolls-Royce
• Shell
• Standard Chartered
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• Tate & Lyle
• UBM
• Unilever
• Unipart Group
• The University of Nottingham 

Huawei to open data science lab with Imperial College

 

CBI member Huawei and Imperial College London recently announced that they will collaborate and jointly invest on a data science lab, which will bring together experts from across Imperial's faculties and Huawei researchers to harness data science research and develop new applications in fields such as smart cities, energy, and healthcare.

The data science lab is the first major corporate partnership within Imperial's new Data Science Institute, which will cultivate multidisciplinary collaborations between the College's academic experts and research partners to develop new big data technologies. Huawei will invest in cutting-edge equipment including next-generation cloud computing servers, a research and innovation fund, and operational costs for the new lab.

The Imperial collaboration is part of Huawei's global investment in innovation and research and development.

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP said, "Science and research are major contributors to the U.K. economy and our Universities are central to ensuring that we have the skills in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) that we need to compete in the global economy. Big Data technology is one of the areas where U.K. universities can take the lead in research and development, and that is why I welcome today's announcement of the collaboration between Imperial and Huawei."

Sir Keith O'Nions, President of Imperial College London, said, "Imperial and Huawei share a commitment to developing the next generation of big data technologies for the benefit of our society and economy. Huawei's investment of knowledge and funding in this lab will empower some of the world's leading experts to accelerate the development of next-generation big data technologies."

William Xu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said, "Investing in innovation is central to Huawei's business strategy, and this exciting collaboration will help us stay at the cutting edge of data science developments. Imperial College is a global institution with unrivalled knowledge in this field. By bringing its experts together with our engineers we believe we can create new products and services that will harness the huge potential of big data. This collaboration with Imperial also bolsters the wider partnership programme we have with British universities, which includes working with other institutions around the U.K. on the 5G technologies that will revolutionise how we communicate in the future."

Professor Yike Guo, Director of the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London, said, "Imperial's Data Science Institute is a focal point for global collaborations with governments, industry, and the academic community. The new Imperial - Huawei Data Science Innovation Lab will show how collaboration between academia and industry can drive innovations in big data to benefit all of our lives. Huawei and Imperial are world leaders in their fields, with a series of complementary strengths. We look forward to turning our ambitious vision for this collaboration into reality."

Please click here to read the full press release by Huawei.

CBI podcast on U.K.-China relationship in the Year of the Horse

Dear CBI Members and partners,

The CBI recently posted a podcast debating the challenges and opportunities for U.K. companies investing in China, featuring Guy Dru Drury (Chief Representative, CBI China), Daniella Goldman (Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, Huawei), Ian Hunt (Education Managing Director, Gabbitas), and Duncan Innes-Ker (Regional Editor, Asia, Economist Joint Intelligence Unit).

Please access the full podcast here.

CBI Member Successes in China Dec-Jan 2013/14

 

 

Dear CBI members and partners,

A very happy New Year of the Horse to you.

Kindly find our latest briefing for December 2013 & January 2014, which highlights the successes of a number of CBI members in China and covers 81 members, including (by alphabetic order):

 

• ABB
• Accenture
• Airbus
• Amazon.com
• Aon
• Arup
• Atkins
• BAE Systems
• Baker & McKenzie
• Balfour Beatty
• BBC
• Benoy
• Bentley Motors
• BMW Group
• The Boeing Company
• British Airways
• The British Film Institute (BFI)
• BSI
• BT
• Burberry
• Burson-Marsteller
• Cardiff University
• Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)
• The City of London
• Clifford Chance
• ConocoPhillips
• Deloitte
• Deutsche Bank
• Devro
• DHL
• DLA Piper
• Eversheds
• Fiat Group
• Ford Motor Company
• Foster + Partners
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Gatwick Airport
• GE
• Harvey Nash
• Hays
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• Herbert Smith Freehills
• HSBC
• Huawei
• IBM
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• J.P. Morgan
• Kingfisher
• King’s College London
• KPMG
• Lancaster University
• L’Oréal
• Marks & Spencer (M&S)
• Microsoft
• MIRA
• Mott MacDonald
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Philips
• Pinsent Masons
• The Premier League
• Prudential
• Rio Tinto
• Rolls-Royce
• SABMiller
• Saint-Gobain
• Shell
• Siemens
• Standard Chartered
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• Thales
• UBM
• The University of Aberdeen
• University College London
• The University of Edinburgh
• The University of Exeter
• The University of Nottingham
• The University of Sheffield
• The University of Surrey
• The University of Ulster 

Please click here to access the member success summary.

Huawei to invest £10 million into UK University technical research programmes

 

CBI member Huawei recently announced that it will invest IT, 10 million to support technology research programmes with British universities.

The funding, part of Huawei's previously announced US$2 billion investment commitment to the U.K., will be implemented by 2017 and strengthens the company's partnership with British higher education.

The research programmes will focus on advanced multimedia, IT and optical technology, green radio, 5G technologies, wireless communications, and product engineering.

The significant level of funding for these university schemes has been made available through Huawei's Innovation Research Programme, which extends the company's long-term focus on research and development into the academic world by forging partnerships with global educational institutions.

David Willets MP, Minister for Universities and Science, said, "This investment is a vote of confidence in U.K. universities and their world-leading science and technology skills. We want to encourage greater links between innovative businesses and our research-focused universities. Attracting global companies, like Huawei, shows we are realising these ambitions."

Victor Zhang, Chief Executive of Huawei U.K., said, "This collaboration with the U.K.'s universities is an excellent initiative. As the global technology economy continues to grow, new innovation is fundamental, and these research projects will ensure the U.K. is at the forefront of developments in wireless, multimedia, and advanced communications.

"As a global leader in the technology industry, we believe we have a responsibility to nurture the next generation of talent. The research partnerships we're announcing today with British universities are a sign of that commitment, and we passionately believe that greater collaboration across cultures fosters a unique learning environment and a truly global workforce that benefits everyone."

Please click here to read the full press release by Huawei.

Huawei celebrates opening of new U.K. headquarters in Green Park, Reading

 

Huawei recently celebrated the opening of its new U.K. headquarters in Green Park in Reading. 

The move reaffirms Huawei's long-term commitment to the U.K., and is the first significant milestone in the company's pledge to invest £1.3 billion into the economy over a five-year period. The new 140,000 square foot complex will house Huawei's main U.K. operation, and will help meet the future needs of the company's growing workforce.

Mark Hoban, U.K. Employment Minister, said, "This is a significant investment in the U.K., which shows that we are open for business. This Government is committed to doing all that we can to help people achieve their aspiration of looking after themselves and their families, and this investment will bring a welcome jobs boost for the region."

Alok Sharma, MP for Reading West, said, "I am very pleased Huawei has selected Reading and Green Park as the location of its new headquarters. Green Park is at the heart of the 'M4 corridor', the centre of Britain's Information, Communication, and Technology sectors, it has a highly skilled local workforce with unrivalled transport links. I look forward to working with Huawei as it settles into its new U.K. home."

Cathy Meng, Executive Director of the Board and Chief Financial Officer, Huawei Technologies, said, "Today's move marks the beginning of an exciting new period of development for Huawei U.K.

The U.K. is an innovation hub, and is already playing a key role in the global digital economy. Huawei is grateful to all of our customers and partners, as well as the British Government, for their continued trust and support. We are greatly encouraged by the British government's positive approach towards overseas investment, and we are on-track to fulfill our long-term commitment to the U.K."

Please click here to read the full press release by Huawei.