UK clears Huawei to build research and development center

Huawei will invest £ 1 billion in the UK project. STEFAN WERMUTH / AFP

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The Chinese telecommunications group Huawei announced Thursday (June 25th) that it has reached an agreement with the British authorities to build a research and development center. An announcement that sounds like a success for the Chinese giant, in the midst of a battle to impose its 5G installations in the world, despite the pressures exerted by the United States on its allies.

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The Huawei center will be located in Cambridge, in the heart of the British Silicon Fen, and will work in particular on the electronic components of optical fiber.

More than a billion euros of investment, 400 employees planned, and an announcement in the form of a victory for the Chinese group which welcomes, in a press release, this installation in the "  dynamic and open market  " that is the United Kingdom.

A coveted market for the deployment of 5G , a technology in which Huawei is at the forefront. But its ambitions are hampered by the pressures exerted by the United States on its allies: on the United Kingdom, the European Union or even the member countries of NATO.

The United States accuses Huawei of spying for Beijing, and this week also listed the giant from Shenzhen on a list of companies linked, according to the Pentagon, to the Chinese army.

► Read also: China responds to US threats against Huawei

Between American pressures and those, reverse, of industrial partners of Huawei, the United Kingdom blows hot and cold: last January, London indicated that equipment manufacturers "  high risk  " like Huawei could participate in the deployment of 5G, but to a limited extent and outside strategic sectors.

Read also: Chinese Huawei plans to install its first 5G factory in Europe

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