New Zealand's government revealed that Chinese telecom device maker Huawei will invest NZD400 million, which is about CNY1.938 billion, in the country for data center and innovation lab construction.
Simon Bridges, minister for Economic Development of New Zealand, and Paul Goldsmith, minister for Science of New Zealand, said in a joint statement that Huawei will cooperate with local partners to build a data center in New Zealand and two innovation labs in Christchurch and Wellington, respectively.
Bridges said that Huawei's investment in New Zealand will help enhance the country's strength in the research and development sector to help them improve innovation abilities in the digital and technical world.
Huawei plans to establish the data center and put it to use within two years. Meanwhile, the Chinese company will cooperate with Victoria University of Wellington to build the innovation lab in 2017. Huawei's innovation lab in Christchurch will focus on technical research and development related to 5G communications, Internet of Things, and big data.
In addition, as a part of talent development cooperation, New Zealand's college students will have the opportunities to participate in training at Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters in mainland China in the future. Huawei will also open a regional office in Wellington.
To achieve above goals, Huawei will invest about CNY2 billion in New Zealand in the next five years.