Chinese technology firm Huawei (www.huawei.com/en) is to build a ‘state of the art’ centre in Cambridge which will focus on the R&D and manufacturing of optical devices and modules.

Optoelectronics is a key technology used in fibre optic communication systems and this investment aims to bring the best of such technology to data centres and network infrastructure around the world, according to Huawei.

According to the Chinese company, it acquired 500 acres of land in Cambridge in 2018 and the first phase of the Huawei Campus was approved by the local council last week.

Huawei will invest £1 billion in the first phase of the project, which includes construction of 50,000m² of facilities and will directly create around 400 local jobs, the company said.

Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: “It is the perfect location for this integrated innovation campus. Through close collaboration with research institutes, universities, and local industry, we want to advance optical communications technology for the industry as a whole, while doing our part to support the UK's broader industrial strategy.“

The company has been operating in the UK market for around two decades, employs 1,600 people and supplies telecoms network equipment to all the major mobile and broadband service providers.