William Xu, Huawei's chief strategy and marketing officer, today announced that the company has set up 18 joint innovation centers (JICs) with top European carriers. He made the announcement at the second European Huawei Innovation Day, held in Milan, Italy. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Huawei Technologies Co, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced that it has set up 18 joint innovation centers (JICs) with top European carriers.

"The ancient 'Silk Road' connected China and Europe for the first time. Today, the 'Silicon Road' of the ICT industry makes the connection even closer,'' said William Xu, Huawei's chief strategy and marketing officer, in making the announcement at the second European Huawei Innovation Day, held in Milan, Italy.

Through the JICs, Huawei shares the latest technologies, boosts technological advancements and promotes innovative applications together with its European customers.

Huawei has established 28 JICs with customers and partners around the world, 18 of which are located in Europe, in areas such as wireless access, network communications technologies, business support systems, energies, and industry solutions.

"Europe enjoys a long tradition of innovation and has high-caliber talents and open business opportunities,'' Xu said. "As a key player in Europe's innovation ecosystem, Huawei has been jointly innovating and openly collaborating with carriers, partners, and academic institutions to achieve win-win outcomes. These initiatives have improved the competitiveness of the ICT industry in Europe and support EU Commission's objective of building a single digital market and to create a better connected Europe."

Xu said Huawei is becoming "a real European company. Huawei now has over 7,700 employees in Europe, 850 of which are engaged in R&D activities. In the next five years, Huawei will hire 5,500 additional employees in Europe and the number of R&D employees increasing to more than 1,700."