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Ren Zhengfei

25 October 1944 – present

Ren Zhengfei is a Chinese engineer and entrepreneur who founded the telecommunications equipment company Huawei in Shenzhen in 1987 and has served as its chief executive since. A former officer in the People's Liberation Army engineering corps, he built Huawei into one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications equipment and smartphones.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Ren Zhengfei.

Life events

Born in Zhenning County, Guizhou, China
25 October 1944

Ren was born into a family of schoolteachers in a rural part of Guizhou province.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied at the Chongqing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture
1963 – 1968

He studied architecture and engineering in Chongqing, a period that overlapped with the start of the Cultural Revolution.

Education ?
Joined the People's Liberation Army engineering corps
1974

Ren served as a military technologist, working on a synthetic fibre factory project in Liaoyang.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Attended the National Science Conference in Beijing
1978

He was among the delegates at the 1978 conference, having been recognised for technical achievements in the army.

Achievement ?
Left the army following the disbandment of the engineering corps
1983

After demobilisation he moved to Shenzhen and worked in the electronics division of a state-owned oil company.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Founded Huawei in Shenzhen
15 September 1987

Ren established Huawei with about 21,000 yuan in start-up capital, initially reselling telephone switches imported from Hong Kong.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Huawei launched its first self-developed digital telephone switch
1993

The C&C08 switch marked Huawei's transition from reseller to manufacturer of telecommunications equipment.

Achievement ?
Named among the world's most influential people by Time magazine
2005

Ren was included in the Time 100 list.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Daughter Meng Wanzhou arrested in Vancouver at the request of the United States
1 December 2018

Huawei's chief financial officer, Ren's daughter, was detained in Canada on US fraud charges and released in September 2021 after a deferred prosecution agreement.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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