China's largest telecommunications equipment supplier, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, has seen its overseas sales grow to exceed the domestic business, a milestone of its market restructuring, Monday's Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

This year, the Shenzhen-based firm's overseas sales are expected to exceed US$5 billion, beating its domestic sales for the first time, president Ren Zhengfei said.

He expected the overseas business to expand further and account for 70 percent of the total by 2008, heralding a truly "globalized Huawei".

"The company has undergone a new-round of overseas expansion, during which European and North American markets have replaced less-developed areas such as Africa, Latin America and Asia as our target overseas markets," Ren pointed out.

Citing Europe as an example, he said sales reached US$300 million in the first-half, with the annual sales target at US$600 million, three times the figure of 2002.

In line with its overseas expansion strategy, Huawei had established eight regional headquarters across the globe by October, with 55 representative offices and technological service centers. Its overseas sales covered over 90 countries and regions, and included 22 of the world's top 50 telecom operators.

Ren attributed his company's boom to heavy investment in pioneer technologies.

Of its over 30,000 employees, 18 percent are in research and development, in which the company invests more than 10 percent of its income, with investment last year standing at a high of US$487 million. It has R&D centers in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai as well as abroad.

(Shanghai Daily November 29, 2005)