Why Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei’s new memo has gone viral on China’s internet
- The founder’s memo, addressed to Huawei employees, paints a gloomy picture of a world heading into economic recession
- Ren’s message offers an honest reading of China’s economic prospects, which is rare in the country, according to experts
A leaked internal memo by Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei Technologies Co., has gone viral on China’s social media, as his bleak outlook of the global economy strikes a chord in the country’s business and technology sectors.
Huawei declined to confirm or deny the memo, but sources told the Post that the text, which has been widely reported locally and shared on the internet, is authentic.
“The next 10 years will come down as a painful period in history, as the world economy goes into recession … Huawei needs to tone down on any over-optimistic forecast and make survival its most important creed in the next three years,” Ren wrote.
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Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei says he drew on the best of US politics and business to found telecoms giant
This is not the first time that Ren, 77, has reminded Huawei employees that the firm is navigating a business crisis. Huawei’s rotating chairman, Eric Xu Zhijun, also repeatedly said in 2020 and 2021 that the company’s goal was to survive US sanctions, which barred its access to US-origin technology, such as advanced smartphone chips.