Huawei replaced over 13,000 parts hit by US curbs: founder

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's founder has said that the company has replaced more than 13,000 parts in its products that were hit by US trade sanctions, according to a transcript of a speech posted by a Chinese university.

According to the transcript posted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Friday, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said Huawei had over the past three years replaced the 13,000 components with domestic Chinese substitutes and had redesigned 4,000 circuit boards for it products.

He said production of circuit boards had "stabilised."

Ren made the remarks in a talk to Chinese technology experts on February 24, the university said.

The university posted the transcript on its website on Friday. 

Ren said Huawei invested $23.8 billion in R&D in 2022, and "as our profitability improves, we'll continue to increase R&D spending."

The reports come after analysts said that Huawei showed off 5G telecommunications equipment at an industry conference in Barcelona, where all of the chips on its circuit boards had their origins obscured.

READ MORE: US piles more pressure on Huawei as China slams 'technology hegemony'

US curbs 

The remarks, which the Reuters news agency could not independently verify, provided a window into Huawei's efforts to bounce back from US trade restrictions.

Since 2019, Huawei, a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, has been the target of successive rounds of US export controls.

Those controls cut off both Huawei's supply of chips from US companies and its access to US technology tools to design its own chips and manufacture them by partners.

The Biden administration last year also banned the sale of new Huawei equipment in the US.

READ MORE: Huawei out of 'crisis mode' despite US-led sanctions