Wang Xiang, Chief Strategy Officer of ZTE: ZTE is committed to becoming a "road builder of digital economy"

Source of this article: Time Weekly Author: Jia Jianliang

With the remarkable results of 5G construction, network construction has been steadily advancing.

According to the press conference of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on January 20, 2022, by the end of 2021, the mainland has opened 1.425 million 5G base stations, of which more than 800,000 5G base stations have been jointly built and shared, and the 5G network has covered all prefecture-level cities, more than 98% of county towns and urban areas and 80% of townships and towns.

At the same time, applications such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, terminals, and deep integration of vertical industries around 5G continue to develop rapidly, and the prosperity of the 5G industry chain continues to rise.

As the world's leading communications manufacturing company ZTE, ZTE officially announced its strategic positioning as a "road builder of the digital economy" in 2020, and continued to practice the three-stage route of "recovery, development and transcendence". 2021 is the final year of ZTE's strategic development period, in the face of the challenges of the new crown epidemic and the external environment, it still adheres to consolidating the foundation and expanding the new and deepening healthy management.

What are the most important strategic goals for ZTE in 2022? And what are the specific plans and layouts? To this end, the Time Weekly reporter interviewed Wang Xiang, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of ZTE.

The following is a transcript of the conversation:

Time Weekly: Please outline the opportunities and challenges, the new normal and the new changes facing the communications industry in 2021.

Wang Xiang: 2021 is the beginning of the mainland's "14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Long-term Goals Outline", and the mainland's digital economy is booming. The in-depth integration of new digital technologies with various industries has driven industrial upgrading and transformation. Innovation in new digital infrastructure has been deepening and has become a new engine for promoting economic development. At this critical stage, some new problems and challenges will inevitably continue to emerge. For example, the previous network was mainly for personal applications, and now it is to be expanded to industry-oriented applications. In this process, the application scenarios and technical requirements have a process of gradual clarity and gradual adaptation, which requires us to accelerate innovation in integration and solve these problems in development.

Time Weekly: What goals has ZTE achieved in 2021 and what results have it achieved?

Wang Xiang: In 2021, the biggest feeling is that time is passing faster and faster, and we are becoming more and more relaxed, and we have achieved quality growth. In 2021, we are deeply involved in the construction of domestic 5G scale, and the market pattern has steadily improved. The company's overseas market operation is stable, the government and enterprise affairs are growing rapidly, the terminal business continues to recover, and the new business is also accelerating. At the same time, through digital transformation, we have realized the visualization of the company's operating process, greatly promoted the improvement of operational efficiency, and completed various business objectives beyond expectations.

TIME WEEKLY: What is the hardest thing for ZTE in 2021?

Wang Xiang: In 2021, the most difficult thing may be to control risks and build a "highly resilient organization" under the influence of external uncertainties such as the epidemic. By improving operational efficiency and organizational resilience, we achieve a resilient supply chain, a highly compatible alternative to R&D, rapid operational responsiveness and digitization, and remote and flexible project delivery.

Taking supply chain construction as an example, ZTE has built a new network, new model and new platform for the supply chain through the business transformation of multiple factories and multi-legal persons and the reconstruction of IT systems, and built a network chain supply chain in Shenzhen, Heyuan, Nanjing, Xi'an, Changsha and other places to achieve multi-port import, multi-center distribution, multi-base manufacturing, and multi-factory delivery. At the same time, the application of big data and AI technology has realized online business and intelligent key business, real-time perception of supply and demand changes and risks, and the establishment of a supply chain intelligent operation center to improve supply chain resilience and ensure business continuity with maximum efficiency.

Times Weekly: What are the important measures taken by ZTE in terms of corporate strategic choices, positive responses, investment strategies, transformation and innovation in 2021?

Wang Xiang: 2021 is the final year of ZTE's strategic development period. In the face of the challenges of the new crown epidemic and the external environment, we insist on consolidating the foundation and expanding the new and deepening the healthy management. On the one hand, ZTE continues to "consolidate the cost" and maintain the steady growth of the first curve dominated by operator business; on the other hand, we have increased the "innovation", and the second curve based on government and enterprises, consumers and new services has risen rapidly to promote leapfrog development.

Times Weekly: In 2021, many industries are facing a greater crisis, and when choosing between "lying flat" and "breaking through", what is the business belief used to support the enterprise?

Wang Xiang: In the tide of digital economy, ZTE is committed to becoming a "road builder of the digital economy" and supporting global digital transformation with innovative ICT technology. We insist on doing the hardest things and working with industry partners to drive global digitalization.

TIME: What are your forecasts for your industry in 2022? What is the basis for your judgment?

Wang Xiang: In 2022, the epidemic has profoundly changed the behavior patterns of people and enterprises, and the national macro policy orientation has changed to innovation-driven high-quality development.

We judge that in 2022, digitalization, green networking, and network security will become key hot words. The first is the digitization of life, where applications such as digital twins and metacosms have promoted the integration of the real world and the virtual world. The second is the digitalization of the industry, which will become a "must-answer question" for every enterprise.

At the same time, the energy revolution is the trend of the times, and the ICT industry will be subject to the dual carbon target and renew its momentum. As far as network security is concerned, we need to build an end-to-end security defense system to better resolve cloud network security risks and consolidate the foundation for the development of the industry. In short, ICT companies need to look ahead, plan ahead, and create a new situation in the changing situation.

Time Weekly: What are the most important strategic directions, strategic goals or transformation and innovation measures for ZTE in 2022?

Wang Xiang: 2022 is the beginning of ZTE's strategic transcendence period, as far as ZTE's strategic direction is concerned, what has always remained unchanged is the original intention of serving customers, and what has changed is the ability to serve customers. We are committed to digital transformation, improving our ability to serve our customers while improving our own efficiency. In addition, we are willing to open ZTE's atomic capabilities, share digital transformation experience and various digital tools to help customers digitally transform.

TIME: In terms of willingness to invest in traditional businesses, does your business tend to shrink, maintain the status quo, or actively increase? Will new businesses be actively explored?

Wang Xiang: On the basis of consolidating the first curve of operator business, ZTE will increase the expansion of the second curve represented by government and enterprise affairs, consumer business, new business, etc., so as to achieve leapfrog development potential and momentum for the next strategic cycle.

In terms of company organization, we have established an automotive electronics line and a digital energy products business department to enhance the business positioning and integrate existing products and capabilities such as power supply, energy storage, IDC and energy management. At the same time, the company adopted the "special combat team" operation mode for key subdivisions such as mining and steel smelting to improve the efficiency of project operation and collaboratively solve the problem of "what kind of programs and products to sell, who to sell to, and how to sell".