Huawei’s succession plan in view as Meng takes up rotating chairwoman role from April at sanctions-hit tech giant

Huawei Technologies Co chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, daughter of company founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei, will assume the role as the company’s rotating chairwoman from April, according to local media reports, amid ongoing speculation over the succession plan at the US sanctions-hit telecommunications giant.

It would be the first time for Meng, hailed as a national hero upon her return to China in a chartered flight in September 2021 after being detained in Canada, to act as the company’s top leader, after her promotion to the role last March.

Meng was put under nearly three years of house arrest in Canada where she fought extradition to the US over a bank fraud case. Under a deal reached with US prosecutors, that case and other charges against Meng were dismissed last December.

Meng’s tenure as rotating chairwoman comes at a critical time when the Shenzhen-based Huawei is facing increased pressure, with reports that the Biden administration is considering cutting off the firm from all of its American suppliers.