Huawei to open French plant in 2023

France: Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, under pressure from Western governments suspicious it presents a security risk, is to open its first mobile network plant outside China in 2023 in eastern France, a director said Tuesday.

Work on the factory, which is to manufacture base stations, should begin this year, Huawei vice president and supervisory board member Catherine Chen told a video press conference.

The site “could produce the first mobile station sometime in 2023,” she said, adding that the official decision to locate a manufacturing plant outside China represented “an historic date for Huawei”.