Huawei Technologies has recently completed the construction of a $1.4 billion research and development (R&D) center in Shanghai, a significant move in the ongoing technological rivalry between China and the United States.
This new facility, named the Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center, is located in the Qingpu district of west Shanghai and spans 1.6 million square meters. It is designed to advance Huawei’s capabilities in critical areas such as 5G, cloud computing, and AI.
The centre also is expected to house around 30,000 employees focused on chip technology, wireless networks, and the IOT.
Huawei is facing difficulties in scaling up the production of its Ascend 910B AI chip due to reliance on refurbished chip fabrication machinery, highlighting the complexities of the semiconductor industry under geopolitical pressures.
The Chinese tech giant has been under stringent U.S. trade restrictions since 2019, which have severely limited its access to advanced semiconductor technologies.
These sanctions were further tightened in May 2024, with the revocation of special licenses for U.S. chip manufacturers like Intel and Qualcomm to supply Huawei. Despite these challenges, Huawei has made significant progress, notably with the development of its Kirin 9000s chip, which features 7-nanometer processing technology.
