Li Zixue (Chairman and Executive Director)[1] Xu Ziyang (Executive Director and CEO)[2]
Products
Mobile phones,smartphones,tablet computers, hardware,software, all series of wireless, wireline, services, devices and professional telecommunications services and services to telecommunications service providers and enterprises[3]
ZTE's core business is wireless,exchange,optical transmission, data telecommunications gear, telecommunications software, and mobile phones. ZTE primarily sells products under its own name, but it is also anOEM.[8]
The company has faced criticism in the United States, India, and Sweden over ties to theChinese government that could enablemass surveillance. In 2017, ZTE was fined for illegally exporting U.S. technology to Iran and North Korea in violations ofeconomic sanctions.[9] In April 2018, after the company failed to properly reprimand the employees involved, theU.S. Department of Commerce banned U.S. companies (semiconductors) from exporting to ZTE for seven years. The ban was lifted in July 2018 after ZTE replaced its senior management, and agreed to pay additional fines and establish an internal compliance team for 10 years.[10][11] In June 2020, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) designated ZTE a national security threat.[12][13][14][15] In 2023, theEuropean Commission banned ZTE from providing telecommunication services.[16]
While the company initially profited from domestic sales,[22] it vowed to use proceeds of its 2004 Hong Kong IPO to further expandR&D, overseas sales to developed nations, and overseas production.[23] Making headway in the international telecom market in 2006, it took 40% of new global orders forCDMA networks[24][verification needed] topping the world CDMA equipment market by number of shipments.[25][26][27] That same year also saw ZTE find a customer in the CanadianTelus[28][29] and membership in theWi-Fi Alliance.[30][better source needed]
By 2009, the company had become the third-largest vendor ofGSM telecom equipment worldwide, and about 20% of all GSM gear sold throughout the world that year was ZTE branded.[31] As of 2011, it holds around 7% of theLTE patents.[32]
In 2022, US court rules ZTE to end the five-year probation from a 2017 guilty plea.[33][34]
In 2023, ZTE 5G NR gNodeB (HW Version V9200, SW Version 21.2, audit process HPPD Process-2017) product obtained the NESAS CCS-GI certificate released by theGerman Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) (Certificate Number: BSI-DSZ-NESAS-0002-2022).[36][37][38]
ZTE was allowed to continue working with U.S. companies, provided that it properly reprimand all employees involved in the violations. However, the Department of Commerce found that ZTE had violated these terms and made false statements regarding its compliance, having fired only 4 senior officials and still providing bonuses to 35 other employees involved in the violations. On 16 April 2018, the Department of Commerce banned U.S. companies from providing exports to ZTE for seven years.[41][42][43] At least 25% of components on recent ZTE smartphones originated from the U.S., includingQualcomm processors and certifiedAndroid software withGoogle Mobile Services.[44][45] An analyst stated that it would take a significant amount of effort for ZTE to redesign its products as to not use U.S.-originated components.[46]
On 9 May 2018, ZTE announced that, although it was "actively communicating with the relevant U.S. government departments" to reverse the export ban, it had suspended its "major operating activities" (including manufacturing) and trading of its shares.[45][47] On 13 May 2018, U.S. presidentDonald Trump stated that he would be working with Chinese presidentXi Jinping to reverse the ban.[48] It was argued that the export ban was being used as leverage by the United States as part of anongoing trade dispute with China.[49][50] On 7 June 2018, ZTE agreed to a settlement with the Department of Commerce in order to lift the import ban. The company agreed to pay a US$1 billion fine, place an additional US$400 million of suspended penalty money in escrow, replace its entire senior management, and establish a compliance department selected by the department.[51]
Later that month, theU.S. Senate passed a version of theNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 that blocked the settlement, and banned the federal government from purchasing equipment from Huawei and ZTE (citing them as national security risks due to risks of Chinese government surveillance). The settlement was criticized by Senators as being "personal favors" between Trump and the Chinese government, as the Chinese government issued a loan for an Indonesian theme park project with a Trump golf course following the May 2018 announcement.[52][53] However, theHouse version of the bill, signed by Trump, did not include the provision blocking the settlement, but still included the ban on federal purchase of Huawei and ZTE products.[54]
On 13 July 2018, the denial order was officially lifted.[10][11][55][56]
In January 2019, it became public that ZTE has retained the services of former senatorJoe Lieberman as a lobbyist.[57]
In June 2020,the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated ZTE as a threat to U.S. communications networks.[12][58] In July 2020, the U.S. government banned companies that use ZTE from receiving federal contracts.[13][15] The FCC denied the company's appeal of the decision in November 2020.[59]
In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a criminal complaint against ZTE accusing it of using two shell companies named Ryer International Trading and Rensy International Trading to violate sanctions against North Korea.[60] In December 2020, the U.S. Congress included $1.9 billion to help telecom carriers in rural areas of the U.S. to remove ZTE equipment and networks they had previously purchased.[61]
In January 2021,Gina Raimondo, PresidentJoe Biden's nominee forUnited States Secretary of Commerce, said in her confirmation hearings that she would protect U.S. networks from interference by Chinese companies including ZTE.[62] In June 2021, the FCC voted unanimously to prohibit approvals of ZTE gear in U.S. telecommunication networks on national security grounds.[63]
In March 2022, ZTE was accused of violating its probation from its guilty plea for sanctions violations.[64] After PresidentJoe Biden signed into law theSecure Equipment Act of 2021, in November 2022, the FCC banned sales or import of equipment made by ZTE for national security reasons.[65]
In March 2025, the FCC opened an investigation into ZTE and other Chinese companies regarding operations in the U.S. in violation of restrictions.[66]
The mixed ownership model of ZTE was described as "a firm is anSOE from the standpoint of ownership, but a POE [privately owned enterprises] from the standpoint of management" by an article inThe Georgetown Law Journal.[72] ZTE described itself as "state-owned and private-run".[73] TheSouth China Morning Post and theFinancial Times have both described ZTE as state-owned.[74][75] Other scholars have noted the links between ZTE's state-owned shareholders and thePeople's Liberation Army.[76]
ZTEsoft engages in ICT industry and specializes in providingBSS/OSS,big data products and services to telecom operators, and ICT,smart city and industry products and services to enterprises and governments.[citation needed]
ZTE Office Building SZ1
Nubia Technology was a fully owned subsidiary of ZTE Corporation. The company has subsequently disposed of the majority of its equity in the company. In 2017 it reduced its stake to 49.9%.[89]
Zonergy is a renewables company with interests in electricity generation through solar parks in China and Pakistan and palm oil cultivation in Indonesia to produce biofuels. ZTE is a major shareholder and was instrumental in the creation of the company in 2007 but holds a minority of the shares in the entity.[90]
ZTE agreed to take over a 48% stake in Turkish company Netaş Telekomünikasyon A.Ş. for $101.3 million from the American private equity firmOne Equity Partners in December 2016.[91][92][93] Following the acquisition in August 2017, ZTE has become its largest shareholder while Netaş remains an independent company.[94]
ZTE operates in three business segments: carrier networks, government and corporate business, and consumer business.[95] In October 2010, ZTE's unified encryption module received U.S./Canada FIPS140-2 security certification.[96][97]
ZTE was also reported to have developed identification cards for Venezuela that were allegedly used for tracking and social control.[98]
ZTE began to offer smartphones in the United States in 2011. The company elected to focus its efforts on low-cost products for discount and prepaid wireless carriers, including devices with premium features typically associated with high-end products, such as large high-resolution screens and fingerprint readers.[47]
Norwegian telecommunications giantTelenor, one of the world's largest mobile operators, banned ZTE from "participating in tenders and new business opportunities for 6 months because of an alleged breach of its code of conduct in a procurement proceeding" during a five-month time span ending in March 2009.[114]
Contracts with ZTE to build a broadband network for the Philippine government reportedly involved kickbacks to government officials.[115] The project was later cancelled.[115][116]
West Africa
Court documents filed in the US show that ZTE had a practice of handing over “brown paper bags” of cash to win contracts in West Africa. The company had an entire department dedicated to bribe management.[117][118]
In December 2010, ZTE sold systems foreavesdropping on phone and Internet communications to the government-controlledTelecommunication Company of Iran. This system may help Iran monitor and track political dissidents.[119]
At least one ZTE mobile phone (sold as theZTE Score in the United States byCricket andMetroPCS) can be remotely accessed by anyone with an easily obtained password.[120]
ZTE, as well asHuawei, has faced scrutiny by the U.S. federal government over allegations that Chinese government surveillance could be performed through its handsets and infrastructure equipment.[121] In 2012, theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a report recommending that the government be prohibited from purchasing equipment from the firms, citing them as possible threats to national security.[20][122][123][124] A ban on government purchases of Huawei and ZTE equipment was formalized in adefense funding bill passed in August 2018.[54]
Following the2020–2021 China–India skirmishes, India announced that ZTE would be blocked from participating in the country's 5G network for national security reasons.[125] Sweden has also banned the use of ZTE telecommunications equipment in its 5G network on the advice of its military and security service, which said China is "one of the biggest threats against Sweden."[126]
During theRussian invasion of Ukraine, ZTE refused to withdraw from the Russian market. Research fromYale University published on 10 August 2022 identified ZTE among the companies defying demands to exit Russia or reduce business activities.[127]
^"ZTE Tops 2006 International CDMA Market"(PDF).ZTE Technologies. Vol. 9, no. 86 (IMS Special Issue ed.). ZTE. March 2007. p. 1.Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved1 December 2020.
^Rohrlich, Justin (11 October 2020)."The ZTE Conundrum".The Wire China.Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved11 October 2020.
^Annual Report 2018(PDF) (Report). ZTE. 2019.Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved28 August 2019.
^Milhaupt, Curtis J.; Zheng, Wentong (22 March 2014). "Beyond Ownership: State Capitalism and the Chinese Firm".The Georgetown Law Journal.103 (665): 676.SSRN2413019.
CN¥122.95 billion / US $17.68 billion[4] (2022)
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