Huawei, ZTE Ratchet Up Western PR Offensives 华为和中兴加紧西方公关战

By newsdoug on July 11, 2011

Latest Huawei, ZTE moves send signals to global markets After a few weeks of relative quiet from two of China’s top exporting stars, Huawei Technologies and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) have both returned to the headlines in their latest efforts to break into skeptical Western markets, most notably the US. First Huawei. In a relatively high-profile move, Huawei has called on the US telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to “clarify” its stance on letting Huawei bid for contracts in a US program to update the nation’s emergency communications networks. (English article) According to a China Daily report, Huawei previously applied to take part in the program, but never got a response. This move is clearly designed to force the Obama administration — which is trying to improve relations with China — to take a definite stand on letting Huawei sell its equipment in the US. While this kind of approach seems smart in principle, Huawei has made a poor decision in using this program to push Obama since emergency networks are much more sensitive than commercial ones, and thus the president will feel strong pressure from conservative politicians to give Huawei and definitive “no” in response to its requests. In ZTE’s case, the company has issued a high-profile announcement saying it has received a $900 million syndicated bank loan from a group led by Bank of China. (company announcement; Chinese article) What’s significant in this case is that 8 of the 10 banks participating in the syndicate are major global players, including Singapore’s UOB and DBS, Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Banco Santander and Bank of Nova Scotia. Clearly this deal, and the high profile announcement, are designed to show the world that ZTE is a serious global player that can attract financing from major global banks, and isn’t dependent on China’s state-backed, policy-driven banks to support its business and global expansion. This move looks like a smarter one than Huawei’s, in my view, and should help ZTE gain the kind of credibility it is seeking in the eyes of skeptical Westerners who doubt the company’s ability to thrive without support from Beijing.

Bottom line: Huawei’s latest pressure on the Obama administration to sell to the US is a risky move that’s likely to backfire, while ZTE’s new syndicated loan will showcase its growing global stature.

华为和中兴通讯<00063. SZ><0763.HK>在经过几周的相对平静後，日前他们打入西方市场的最新举措再次成为热门新闻，尤其引人注目的是华为在美国成立研发中心。华为相对高调地要求美国联邦通讯委员会（FCC）允许华为竞标美国升级国家应急通讯网络项目的问题上“明确表示立场”。据《中国日报》报导，华为此前曾申请该项目，但从未得到回应。此举明显旨在敦促试图改善中美关系的奥巴马政府表态，明确支持华为在美国销售其设备。这种方式理论上看似明智，但华为利用该项目敦促奥巴马属於不明智，因国家应急网络比商业项目更为敏感，因此保守派将对奥巴马施以重压，奥巴马势将对华为的请求说“不”。中兴通讯高调宣布，以子公司–中兴香港为主体与中国银行为首的10家银行签订总额为9亿美元的银团贷款协议。值得注意的是，这10家银行中有八家是跨国大银行，包括新加坡大华银行和星展银行、日本三菱东京日联银行、西班牙国家银行和加拿大丰业银行。这项协议及高调声明旨在向世界证明，中兴通讯在全球举足轻重的地位，能够吸引各大跨国银行提供融资，并不需要依赖受政策驱动的中国国有银行支持其业务和全球扩张。在我看来，此举比华为更加高明，有助於中兴通讯获得西方信任，因为西方质疑若没有中国政府扶持，该公司不会有很大发展。

一句话：华为日前向奥巴马政府施压，要求後者支持其在美销售，这一举措颇具风险，可能会事与愿违，而中兴通讯签署银团贷款协议将证明其全球地位日益增长。