Technology , Financials , Automotive Author：Dixuan Lu Jun 21, 2020 08:58 PM (GMT+8)

The South Cambridgeshire District Council is considering the company's application.

What's in a name? Image credit: Kamil Kot/Shutterstock

Huawei is expected to receive planning permission to build a GBP 400 million semiconductor R&D center in the United Kingdom's Sawston Village. The approval is to be announced this week.

Among the apparent advantages of this move, Huawei can improve:

1. The scale of its possible talent pool.  Located close to ARM's headquarters in Cambridge and a few other top-notch research institutions, the proposed R&D center has the potential to attract high-class engineers to independently develop capabilities in the area. Since 2014, Huawei has been cooperating with the country's major universities and institutions and has established research centers in Edinburgh, Bristol and Ipswich to train technical talents. 

2. Its business presence in the UK. Though the United States has recently allowed American companies to cooperate with Huawei, concerns are still hanging in the air. For Huawei, the expansion in the European market is a good way to hedge its global business risks.

The UK's attitude towards Huawei has lately been changing. The Chinese company purchased the land in 2019 but hasn't yet received permission to build an R&D facility there. If Huawei's plan gets approved, its chip R&D strength is likely to be further improved, stirred by the country's vast semiconductor talent pool.