Huawei is investing 200 million euros in its first European factory. France gets a breakthrough with a location near Strasbourg.

According to Reuters, China will start building its first European factory in 2024. The Chinese company wants to produce hardware for mobile networks there. The company is moving forward with its plans despite many European countries banning Chinese hardware from their telecommunications networks.

Huawei had already announced in 2020 that it wanted to invest 200 million euros in building a factory in Brumath near Strasbourg. The launch was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but now the telecommunications giant wants to start work on the factory. According to the French government, construction of the site is expected to be completed by 2025. It is currently unclear whether the investment budget has remained the same.

Why France?

The choice for France is logical. According to Reuters, France is the third largest trading partner after the EU and the US. European leaders are currently discussing how to remove the “Chinese risk” from their network and at the same time want to work with him.

Following a meeting between French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and Chinese Vice President He Lifeng, France has decided to extend Huawei’s 5G licenses in certain cities.

Earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), we saw firsthand that Huawei had launched a European charm offensive. In Belgium it was decided that Huawei (and other Chinese manufacturers) are not welcome on the telecommunications network.

Now that the division of the 5G spectrum has been decided, Nokia and Ericsson are positioning themselves as the main suppliers to the three major telecommunications providers Orange, Proximus and Telenet. The existing hardware in the field is now gradually being replaced by new devices that are not manufactured in China.