Huawei Technologies revealed in late August that procurement from Japanese suppliers grew by more than 50% last year while the US tightened trade restrictions on the Chinese telecom equipment maker, reported the Financial Times.
During an online information session, Jeff Wang, chairman of Tokyo-based subsidiary Huawei Japan, credited the gain to Japan’s “extremely important role in global supply chains”. “[Huawei] has built up long-term and stable relationships with Japanese suppliers,” said Wang.
Huawei’s relationships with suppliers face a new test after the US last month moved to further block its access to chips and other equipment based on US technology, part of a series of sanctions against the Chinese company that began last year.
The company bought roughly ¥1.1 trillion ($10.3 billion) worth of components and other goods from Japanese companies last year, up from ¥721 billion in 2018.