CHINA S largest networking and telecommunications equipment maker, Huawei Technologies, has refuted online rumors that its president, Ren Zhengfei, is paving the way for his son to become his successor.
According to the rumors, Sun Yafang, Huawei s chairwoman and executive vice president, will resign soon because Ren, the 66-year-old founder of Shenzhen-based Huawei, is to appoint his son Ren Ping to the board of directors. In return, Sun would be offered 1 billion yuan (US$149 million) to sell her shares at 30 yuan per share.
In a statement late Wednesday, Huawei, which is known for keeping a low media profile, said the reports were groundless.
Sun, in her 50s, who worked in the Ministry of State Security before joining Huawei in 1992, became Huawei s chairwoman and executive vice president in 1998. Sun has tended to represent the company in public, owing to Ren Zhengfei s aversion to the media. She was recently named on Forbes list of the world s most powerful women.
Ren, who holds a 1.42 percent stake in Huawei, founded the company in 1988 with only 20,000 yuan as registered capital. Huawei is considered to be essentially independent of Ren as the largest stake in the company is held by its employees.
However, in recent years it has been reported that several of Ren s relatives have entered Huawei s top management. These include his brother Ren Shulu as vice president, his daughter Meng Wanzhou as chief finance controller, and his sister Zheng Li as a manager in the finance department.
It was also reported that Ren Ping, who graduated from the China University of Science and Technology, has worked for Huawei s marketing, sourcing and debugging departments for several years. (Cao Zhen)
