Huawei

Economist: The long march of the invisible Mr Ren

The move that would create true transparency seems to be the one that is still out of the question: taking at least part of Huawei public. Being a listed company would distract management and limit the freedom to make decisions, company officials explain. Yet, observes Duncan Clark of BDA, a telecoms consultancy in Beijing: “The fact that they haven’t gone public is feeding the suspicions.”

Huawei appears to want to have it both ways: remaining a culturally Chinese company, perhaps even family-run, while competing with publicly traded Western giants. This is unlikely to work. One way or another, Huawei needs to become less secretive if its long slog is to reach the destination that Mr Ren is aiming for.