By Joseph Waring
Huawei lined up CFO Meng Wanzhou to become rotating chair on April 1, with the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei stepping into the top role nearly a year after being named as the replacement for Guo Ping on the three-person rotation.
Meng will serve for six months as part of a rotation also comprising Ken Hu and Eric Xu.
When Huawei announced Meng as a rotating chair, it stated she would also be deputy chair and remain CFO.
She takes the lead as Huawei faces increasing trade restrictions from the US.
In a recent speech, Ren said the company is making progress in sourcing and developing local alternatives to components it was no longer able to buy from US companies due to the sanctions.
Huawei is blocked from importing the latest silicon due to national security concerns in the US and with new curbs on China-based companies importing chip manufacturing equipment, its access to high-end semiconductors will be further hampered.
The company is due to release its 2022 earnings on March 31.
In early January, Xu said business was back to normal and predicted revenue to be flat after declining in 2021.
Meng was under house arrest in Canada for nearly three years facing extradition related to fraud charges and returned to China in September 2021.
