Beijing (AFP)

Huawei, blacklisted by the United States, will generate in 2019 a turnover lower than expected and will have to make its "survival" its priority in 2020, announced Tuesday the Chinese telecoms giant.

The group, suspected of potential spying by Washington for the benefit of Beijing, expects to generate for 2019 a turnover of 850 billion yuan (109 billion euros), an increase "of about 18% on a year, "said Eric Xu, who holds the rotating presidency of Huawei, in his New Year message.

But "these figures are lower than our initial projections", he recognized, referring to "the concerted efforts of the United States to crush us".

"Business remains solid, however, and we are resisting in the face of adversity," said Xu.

2019 was a difficult year for the world's number two cell phone, as the Trump administration banned U.S. companies from selling equipment to Huawei.

The Chinese juggernaut thus finds itself out of access from Google's Android operating system, at the risk of no longer being able to offer very popular applications to its customers.

In this context, "survival will be our first priority," said Eric Xu.

"In 2020, we will remain on the United States' black list. (...) It will be a difficult year for us," he warned. "The United States government will continue to fight the development of advanced technology."

Faced with the American challenge, "we must increase the diversity of our supply chain, which is essential for our security. Any risk to the good functioning of the business must be considered as a matter of life and death," he said. he warned.

The greeting message is accompanied by a free warning to staff.

"We will revoke mediocre leaders more quickly", a fate which awaits each year the 10% of least performing managers, he said.

As for the teams which do not contribute sufficiently to competitiveness, they will be "merged or reduced".

Huawei is considered the world leader in 5G equipment, the fifth generation of mobile internet.

Washington fears as such that future global networks will be controlled, via Huawei, by the Chinese communist regime. The Trump administration is pressuring its allies to convince them to end their cooperation with Huawei.

The Chinese group was founded by a former engineer of the Chinese army whose daughter, Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, is under house arrest in Canada and pending extradition to the United States, who suspect her of violating an embargo against Iran.

© 2019 AFP