China Business Daily (Reporter Jiao Likun)

On the evening of April 1, the news that "Meng Wanzhou is the rotating chairman of Huawei" came out.

According to Huawei's official website, Meng Wanzhou's position was changed to "Vice Chairman, Rotating Chairman, and CFO". She succeeded Guo Ping and became one of the three rotating chairman.

In the eyes of many people in the industry, Meng Wanzhou's "superior position" is logical.

Meng Wanzhou's new role

　　On the evening of April 1, Huawei announced the change of the board of supervisors and the changes of the board of directors.

A Huawei spokesperson said that the company is committed to optimizing and improving its internal governance structure so that the company can last forever.

　　It is worth noting that Meng Wanzhou succeeded Guo Ping as the rotating chairman, and his position was changed to "Vice Chairman, Rotating Chairman, and CFO", and he worked together with Hu Houkun and Xu Zhijun.

Guo Ping was transferred to the chairman of Huawei's supervisory board.

This change has aroused the attention of the industry.

　　A Huawei insider told a reporter from China Business Daily that he had heard rumors before, "it's so normal that it can't be normal anymore."

And a former Huawei employee also told reporters, "Meng Wanzhou at this time has a high reputation both externally and internally, and is more suitable for the role of rotating chairman."

　　It is understood that at the corporate governance level, Huawei implements collective leadership and implements the rotating chairman system.

The rotating chairman is the top leader of the company during the period on duty, presiding over the company's board of directors and the standing committee of the board of directors.

Each rotating chairman is on duty for six months.

From April 1st to September 30th this year, Hu Houkun served as the rotating chairman.

　　This adjustment may already have clues.

At the performance briefing held on March 28 this year, Meng Wanzhou attended as the company's CFO. This was also her first public appearance after returning to China.

As the eldest daughter of the company's founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng Wanzhou, born in 1972, joined Huawei in 1993 and has served as the company's international accounting director, Huawei Hong Kong's chief financial officer, and president of the Accounting Management Department.

In March 2018, Meng Wanzhou was promoted to vice chairman and CFO.

　　And her most notable experience is undoubtedly the 1,028 days of illegal detention by the Canadian government.

On the evening of September 25, 2021, Meng Wanzhou, who had experienced hardships, finally returned to China.

Even during her stay in Canada, the position of Huawei CFO has been waiting for her return.

　　An industry insider told reporters that when Meng Wanzhou was not well-known, Huawei's internal evaluation was very good. She was low-key, down-to-earth, and had a high level of professionalism. Some people said that her writing was also good.

And Meng Wanzhou's professional level in finance is beyond doubt.

　　"Under her leadership, Huawei Finance has become the world's leading digital and intelligent financial organization, creating a solid and reliable business foundation for Huawei and helping the company realize its strategy in the new era." Huawei's official website describes it.

The outside world is hotly discussing "Huawei's successor"

　　With the disclosure of Meng Wanzhou's appointment as Huawei's rotating chairman, the topic of "Huawei's successor" has also sparked heated discussions.

Ma Jihua, a veteran telecommunications industry observer, told a reporter from China Business Daily that under the background of Ren Zhengfei's gradual fading out of Huawei's management, the replacement of old and new by the company's management is an urgent matter.

"If it weren't for the impact of Meng Wanzhou's illegal detention, this process should have been completed in 2020." In Ma Jihua's view, Meng Wanzhou has returned to China after going through hardships and is capable of taking on a leadership role both inside and outside the company.

　　"Judging from Meng Wanzhou's qualifications, the company has sufficient experience and deep financial background, which meets the needs of current digital enterprises for talents. Even if he has not experienced the incident of being illegally detained, he should be the best successor." Ma Jihua said, "Of course, Huawei will The new situation will adjust the organizational structure, which may change the rotation system and the company's organizational system."

　　However, when Ren Zhengfei was interviewed by foreign media on March 4, 2019, he was asked about Huawei's "successor". At that time, his answer to the question was no, because Meng Wanzhou had no technical background.

　　Xiang Ligang, a senior telecommunications industry expert, told a reporter from China Business Daily that Huawei is a collectively-led company, and a rotating chairman has a certain influence on Huawei, but he is not the final decision maker for everything, "I believe Meng Wanzhou is the rotating chairman. It will have an impact on Huawei, but it will not have a particularly significant impact. Huawei will continue to move forward on a normal track. Personally, I believe that Meng Wanzhou will better exert her management skills, and at the same time, it will also put women's delicate and The coordination ability is well exerted and becomes a beneficial 'influence' in Huawei's development."

In and out of the board list

　　In addition to the adjustment of Meng Wanzhou and Guo Ping's positions, there have been many changes in the list of Huawei's board of directors this time.

Among them, four Huawei executives left the board of directors and entered the board of supervisors.

They are Ding Yun (President of Huawei Enterprise BG and Carrier BG), Chen Lifang (President of the Public and Government Affairs Department), Peng Zhongyang (Captain of the Strategic Reserve Team), and Yao Fuhai (Chief Supply Officer, Director of the Group Procurement Management Committee).

In addition, alternate directors Li Jianguo and Bloomberg are successively appointed as directors according to the rules. The former is the president of Huawei's manufacturing department, and the latter is the vice president of Huawei's public and government affairs department.

　　Another researcher who has been paying attention to Huawei for a long time told a reporter from China Business Daily that at present, Huawei’s adjustment in this step is very “smooth”, which is in line with Huawei’s consistent management and reform style of “still water undercurrent”, and it is difficult to judge the follow-up arrangements. But it lays the groundwork for the various possibilities that follow.

"Huawei will not change, and there is no need for the outside world to over-interpret it."

　　Xiang Ligang also believes that the optimization of Huawei's management has actually been progressing in an orderly manner.

He said that today's Huawei has a spiritual leader like Ren Zhengfei, three rotating chairman of the board (two of which are technical experts and one is a financial expert), and a technology-based board of directors. The overall structure is reasonable.

　　At present, Huawei is still in the critical stage of "survival and development".

The financial report shows that in 2021, Huawei will achieve global sales revenue of 636.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 28.6%; however, its net profit will reach 113.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 75.9%.

At that time, Meng Wanzhou said that in 2021, Huawei may have passed the black barrier of this disaster.