Huawei to set up 1 billion R & D Center in Cambridge

Huawei has been allowed to build a £1 billion chip development and manufacturing plant in Cambridgeshire.

The manufacturer will use the Brownfield plant in the western village of Southton to make semiconductor technology in a 50,000-square-meter plant. The technology is designed to accelerate the transmission of data over optical fiber networks, known as optoelectronics.

Huawei plans to use the site as its international optoelectronic headquarters, creating 400 jobs. It claims that optoelectronics is different from the target equipment of US sanctions.

Huawei bought the site for £37.5 million in 2018. The company said the £1 billion quoted would be used for "the first phase of the project", including construction costs and workers' wages.

"the UK is a vibrant place with an open market and the best talent in the world," said Victor Zhang, vice-president of Huawei, an ideal place to integrate innovation parks.

By working closely with research institutions, universities and local industries, we hope to upgrade optical communications technology for the industry as a whole, while doing our best to support the UK's broader industry strategy. Eventually, we hope to help consolidate the UK's leading position in optoelectronics and promote British technology around the world. "