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Huawei
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Huawei hires former BBC executive as editor in chief in push to hire more foreign talent amid tensions with UK

  • Former head of BBC news programmes Gavin Allen updated his LinkedIn on Tuesday to announce the new post at the Chinese telecoms equipment maker
  • Gavin and French mathematician Laurent Lafforgue are two of the latest high-profile hires from Huawei as it looks for new business opportunities overseas

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Huawei’s logo seen outside its main UK office in Reading, west of London, on January 28, 2020. Former head of BBC news programmes Gavin Allen became the latest high-profile overseas hire for the Chinese tech giant as it looks for new business opportunities that are not hindered by US sanctions. Photo: AFP
Josh Ye
Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co has appointed former head of BBC news programmes Gavin Allen as its “executive editor in chief”, marking the telecoms equipment maker’s latest high-profile international hire.
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Allen, who helmed BBC news output for seven years, announced his new position by updating his LinkedIn profile on Tuesday, changing the banner image to one of the Huawei logo and his title to “Executive Editor in Chief, Huawei Technologies”.

“I’m delighted to be joining the global tech company today as their Executive Editor in Chief,” Allen wrote in a short post about the change. “It feels meant-to-be after a two decades long China journey. I’ve studied Chinese history, am – falteringly – learning Mandarin and my wonderful eldest daughter was born in Guangxi.”

“Now hugely proud to be part of a world class ICT organisation which truly values collaboration and innovation: a creative force for good,” he added.

He did not change his location, however, which is still listed as London.

Huawei confirmed Allen’s appointment but declined to comment further.

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The move comes after company founder Ren Zhengfei recently said that Huawei would boost efforts to hire foreign talent, especially in the United States, as it moves to vitalise its overseas research and development programmes, according to a speech published on Wednesday.
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