Huawei Sales Grew 8% in 2013 As China Steps Up The Pace On 4G Network

Shenzhen-based Huawei Technology Co Ltd (SHE:002502) announced on Wednesday that its global revenues grew to between 238 billion yuan ($39.36 billion) and 240 billion yuan in 2013, a growth of 8 percent over the previous year.

Operating profit for 2013 grew to be in the range 28.6 billion yuan to 29.4 billion yuan while cash flow from operating activities and the company’s asset-to-liability ratio remained stable, Cathy Meng, the company’s chief financial officer said, in a statement.

"Every year for over the past 10 years, Huawei has invested more than 10 percent of sales revenue in innovation. In 2013 alone, the company's investment in R&D reached CNY33 billion, accounting for about 14 percent of our sales revenue," Meng said.

Huawei’s annual investment in research and development, or R&D, exceeded $5.4 billion for the first time in 2013, the statement said, adding that between 2004 to 2013, the company poured a total of 153.9 billion yuan into research and innovation.

China is geared to become the world's largest 4G market, Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes told Xinhua in an exclusive interview, the state-run news agency reported on Friday.

Huawei, which is the second-largest provider of telecommunications equipment in the world, was founded by Meng’s father, Ren Zhengfei, in 1987. And, Ren’s background -- he retired from the Chinese military in 1983 -- has been a matter of concern for U.S. lawmakers, Bloomberg reported.

A U.S. congressional committee had alleged in 2012 that Huawei, and ZTE Corporation (SHE:000063), assist Chinese intelligence in spying, a claim denied by both companies.

In mid-afternoon trade, Huawei’s stock was trading up 0.22 percent on the Shenzhen stock exchange.