Huawei to launch $1.4B Shanghai R&D center with 100 cafes to attract foreign scientists

The construction of the center has nearly been completed, with just a few bridge construction and greening projects left to be finalized, as reported by Shanghai official newspaper Jiefang Daily last Thursday.

The facility, named the Lianqiu Lake R&D Centre, consists of eight blocks and 104 buildings including laboratories, offices and leisure areas, the South China Morning Post reported.

It spans 1.6 million square meters and has its own road network, an internal railway system, elevated bridges, and over 100 coffee shops on campus, one of the perks that Huawei’s founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei believe will attract foreign scientists.

The R&D center spans 1.6 million square meters in Jinze, a town in Shanghai’s Qingpu district, and has its own road network, an internal railway system and elevated bridges.

The park is expected to house about 30,000 personnel and will be Huawei’s largest research center globally, according to Bloomberg.

The center's primary focus will be on creating breakthroughs in semiconductors for devices, wireless networks and the Internet of Things.

Besides the Shanghai facility, Huawei has also received planning permission for another R&D center in England, which has an investment of 1 billion pound (US$1.2 billion), Reuters quoted the firm as saying last Thursday.

The tech giant plans for this center to employ approximately 400 people and specialize in producing optical equipment for fiber-optic communication systems.

In its annual report, Huawei disclosed that last year it invested 23% of its total revenue, amounting to 164.7 billion yuan, in various R&D initiatives.

The report also said that about 114,000 employees, constituting 55% of Huawei’s workforce, are engaged in R&D activities.