Huawei to cut more jobs and R&D investments in Australia

The Australian operation of Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies shared its plan of cutting jobs and invest in the country amid strained relations between Beijing and Canberra.

In 2018, Australia banned Huawei from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network citing national security risks, a move the company criticized as being politically motivated.

"In simple terms the 5G ban on Huawei has cost us 1,000 high-tech and high-wage jobs from the economy," Jeremy Mitchell, Huawei's chief corporate affairs officer for Australia, said in an emailed statement. "We have gone from 1,200 staff to fewer than 200 and by next year it will be lower still."

Huawei had terminated A$100 MN ($72.3 MN of research and development investments in Australia since the 5G ban, Mitchell said.

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China have soured this year after Australia called for an independent international investigation into the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

Huawei has slashed local investment in research and development by over $100 million, and will have jettisoned 1000 jobs by next year, Huawei's Chief Corporate Affairs officer Jeremy Mitchell told the Australian media.