It is nearly impossible to go a day in China without touching some part of Huawei’s empire. The Chinese technology giant sells a variety of consumer electronics, from TVs and smart home systems to smartphones. Its telecommunications networks and data centres keep the population online; its autonomous driving solutions are embedded in a growing number of electric cars. It designs semiconductors, builds solar panels and even has hotels.
Dou chronicles Ren’s life — from his childhood growing up in poverty in Guizhou, a mountainous province in south-west China, to running the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker — in a way that helps the reader understand what motivates this notoriously ruthless engineer. Huawei’s first business was importing telephone switches before building its own, cheaper versions, copying foreign designs in the process.