Huawei boss: We will shift our US investment to the UK

Vendor claims it will invest £3bn in the UK over the next five years

Huawei may shift its US investment to the UK, after the NCSC signalled the vendor will receive softer treatment here than in other countries, according to boss Ren Zhengfei.

In an interview with the BBC, Ren brushed off pressure being applied by the US, claiming Huawei's tech is too "advanced" to be ignored by "the world".

Ren's interview comes after the UK's NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) said it it believed it could mitigate any security concerns related to China, although the final decision as to whether Huawei will be allowed to work on the UK's 5G network will be made by the government.

Ren said: "We will continue to invest in the UK. We still trust in the UK.

"If the US doesn't trust us, then we will shift our investment from the US to the UK on an even bigger scale."

Countries around the world - including Australia, New Zealand and the US - banned Huawei from their own 5G projects.

Huawei's clashes with various states stem from suspicions that the vendor is obliged to hand over customer data if requested by the Chinese government.

In a statement sent to press after the interview, Huawei claimed that it has become "one of the largest inward investors" in the UK since launching here 18 years ago.

It claims to employee 1,500 people in the UK directly, while supporting a further 7,500 through its supply chain.

Huawei said it had invested £2bn in the UK by the end of 2017, with plans to splash out a further £3bn over the next five years.

The vendor pointed out that it has been funding a security centre in the UK that oversees its tech in hope of proving its integrity, claiming that "no other technology supplier is open to this degree of independent scrutiny".