Photo taken on March 5, 2020 shows Huawei's flagship store in Paris, France. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Huawei has chosen the Business Park in the city of Brumath in France's northeast Grand-Est region as the venue for its first manufacturing plant in Europe, the global telecom leader and the local authorities of the French region announced in a joint statement released on Thursday.
The plant, with an investment of 200 million euros (245 million U.S. dollars), will create initially 300 jobs and 500 jobs in the long term. It aims to produce one billion euros worth of mobile network technology solutions for Huawei's European customers per year, said the statement.
"With this factory built at the crossroads of Europe, Huawei will enrich its already rich presence on the continent with 23 research and development centers, more than 100 partner universities, more than 3,100 suppliers and an efficient supply chain," it said.
Brumath, situated 17 km north of Strasbourg, is a commune in the Bas-Rhin Department in the Grand-Est region near the border with Germany.
Huawei announced in 2019 its intention to build its first European manufacturing plant in France. Europe, which is the company's largest overseas market, is seen by company founder Ren Zhengfei as the enterprise's second home.
Last February, Huawei announced that this highly automated and intelligent plant will drive the technical competitiveness of European industry and boost the resilience of local supply chains and infrastructure.
The plant will also have a demo center, showcasing the wireless base station production, software loading and testing process. The center will be open to carriers, governments, and related authorities, demonstrating Huawei's positive stance on Europe's call for digital sovereignty, the company said.
