Huawei’s Chairman Liang Hua underlines commitment to providing good services for Canadian customers

21 Feb 2019, Canada

1. Sen Zhang, China Central Television Toronto: What is Huawei's strategy or plan to cope with the difficulties that it is now going through, especially in the western countries?

Liang Hua: First, Huawei is a company that is operating globally in over 170 countries around the world. Given the global scale of our operations, it is only to be expected that there could be challenges and difficulties in our business at any time and at any point. But at the same time, we believe there are also a lot of opportunities out there. Our business performance in 2018 was pretty good. The annual sales revenue reached about US$108.5 billion, year-on-year growth of 20%. We will define our business plans based on our global operations in 2019. I can tell you the business plans and business targets we have set for ourselves so far for the year 2019.

We aim to achieve around US$125.4 billion by the end of 2019 in terms of annual sales revenue. It will mean around 15% to 20% year-on-year growth compared with that in the previous year. Moving forward, we will embrace challenges and overcome difficulties, and at the same time, we will seize the opportunities in the age of digitization, artificial intelligence and cloud. We are pretty confident about our business development.

2. Shruti Shekar, MobileSyrup: We understand that you have some research and development investments and new jobs. Last week, the BBC interviewed Huawei's president and asked questions regarding whether the UK may ban the company from the United Kingdom. He said "we trust the UK and hope that the UK trusts us". Canada is currently doing a review, and there could possibly be a ban. In that case, what would happen to Huawei Canada, since you are expanding your presence here?

Liang Hua: We have been operating in Canada for ten years and we have always maintained good cooperation with our customers. We have made long-term investments in research and development in Canada, with the cumulative R&D spending amounting to US$500 million there. We don't know what the government's decision will be regarding 5G, but no matter what the decision will be, if our customers choose to work with Huawei, then Huawei will be committed to bringing our 5G technology, solutions and products to the Canadian market. If Huawei were to be excluded from the deployment of 5G in Canada, then we would continue to focus on providing good services to customers who do choose us.

But at the end of the day, we hope that the decisions on 5G can be made based on technology, instead of other factors. We want it to be a level playing field, and we want the decisions to be made based on our technological innovations. Huawei has leading technologies and very strong engineering capabilities in 5G.

Coming back to your question, whatever the decision is, we will continue to provide good services to our customers in Canada, because we've had cooperation with customers including TELUS and Bell for a very long time. Even if the decision is not to allow us to work on 5G, we will continue to serve our customers well in other products and networks.

At the same time, we will continue to enhance our investment in research and development in Canada, because Canada is an open and inclusive place that has cultivated a lot of talent. As I mentioned, we have cumulatively invested more than US$500 million in R&D over the past decade in Canada. In 2018 alone, we invested US$137 million in R&D in Canada. We will continue to enhance our R&D investment in Canada based on our business strategy and R&D partnerships.

3. Paul Bagnell, BNN Bloomberg: As you know, three countries, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand have banned the use of Huawei telecommunications gear on security and espionage concerns. In this country, at least three former leaders of intelligence services have urged our government to take the same decision. What kind of assurance can you provide to Canadian policy-makers or citizens that the use of Huawei gear does not pose a security threat to Canadian society?

Liang Hua: To clarify the question, I believe there are two countries, not three. And these two countries are the United States and Australia. New Zealand is not one of the countries that imposed the ban. Just this week, the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern said they haven't really restricted the use of Huawei equipment in 5G deployment. The US has restricted the use of federal funds to purchase networking hardware and services from Huawei. Australia has restricted the use of Huawei equipment in 5G deployment.

In the Canadian market, Huawei provides only the base stations, and the base stations we provide are under the Security Review Program (SRP), a government-led mechanism to provide assurance for the equipment. This is a concerted effort by different parties including the government, telecom operators, Huawei, and also third parties. Such a mechanism is able to provide assurance for the base stations that we provide in Canada.

At Huawei, cyber security and privacy protection are our top priorities. In the next five years, we will continue to invest US$2 billion to enhance our software engineering capabilities and practice. This will help improve our products and solutions in the era of cloud, artificial intelligence, and Software-Defined Everything, so that our solutions can become even more reliable and trustworthy, and be of even higher quality.

In our 30 years of history, we have been operating in over 170 countries and serving over 3 billion customers. We have maintained a solid track record in cyber security. Huawei is an independent business organization. On issues of cyber security, Huawei will not do anything to harm any country, organization or individual. Huawei upholds the principle of customer-centricity. It means we will always be on the side of the customers and partnering with our customers to provide assurances.

Cyber security is a common challenge that calls for the attention of the entire industry and the world at large. Huawei is just an equipment vendor in the industry. Just as GSMA puts it, there needs to be concerted efforts from governments and telecom operators to agree on a consistent testing and certification regime, so as to boost public confidence.

I have one suggestion to make regarding cyber security in Canada. It takes concerted efforts among the government, mobile telecom operators, and equipment vendors to formulate clearly-defined rules or an assurance mechanism, so that it can help build public confidence in the network products and services. Rules, standards, or the mechanism for vendor and equipment selection should be consistent and fair for all vendors.

4. Ray Chan, Sing Tao: My question is about the newly-enacted Chinese intelligence law. The law stipulates that Chinese companies and individuals have the obligation to cooperate with the intelligence agency. Despite the fact that Huawei Canada operates in Canada, Huawei remains a Chinese company, so how will you make sure that data in Canada will not be accessed by the Chinese intelligence agency?

Liang Hua: Regarding the provisions of the Chinese intelligence law that you described in your question, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has provided clear clarifications. They said there is no law in China requiring companies to install backdoors or collect foreign intelligence. Mr. Yang Jiechi, a Chinese government official, repeated the same message at the Munich Security Conference last week. He said that China has no law requiring companies to install backdoors or collect foreign intelligence. At the same time, he stressed the need for Chinese companies to abide by local laws and regulations.

We have also consulted independent legal opinion. The independent legal opinion says that the obligation to cooperate and provide assistance to the intelligence agency is on the premise that it has to be in accordance with the law. Since China has no rules requiring telecom equipment vendors to install backdoors or collect intelligence, as the law does not say so, then it is not abiding by the law should a company need to cooperate or provide assistance.

Over the past 30 years, we have never received such a request. In the future, even if we were to receive such a request, we will not execute it because the law does not require that. Since the law does not require that, we would not be held legally accountable if we refused to execute such a request. On top of that, Huawei only provides the network equipment. It is the telecom operators that operate the equipment.

Huawei Canada has been operating for ten years. We have maintained a good track record. So rest assured.

5. Jacquie McNish, Wall Street Journal: To what extent is today's announcement a reflection of a recognition that the rules of operations for Chinese companies in other countries have to change? For example, China restricts other telecom companies and technology companies from having greater than 30% of the market. There are no restrictions in most other countries. And by making these investments, increasing in research and development, and sharing intellectual property, does Huawei recognize that it has to operate differently in other countries?

(Interpreter: Could you further explain the question with regard to the operational rules?)

Jacquie McNish: The announcement you're making today is a different way of operating in Canada by sharing intellectual property with the universities, making a deeper investment in R&D, and a bigger hiring. It suggests that Huawei understands that perhaps it needs to operate differently in some countries to level the playing field, because foreign companies don't have the same opportunity in China.

Liang Hua: In any country where we have business presence, we're always committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations. That is the bottom line of our business.

In specific countries, we will define our operational tactics based on our business strategies and local requirements. To be specific, in Canada, we're enhancing our investments in research and development, because we see that Canada is home to great talent in areas such as artificial intelligence, fundamental algorithms, and optical components. So that is why we are enhancing our R&D investments here.

Now the United States has imposed some export controls on Huawei in terms of technologies. So in that context, we're moving some of our investments to Canada. I think that is understandable.

Speaking of the research partnerships that Huawei has with Canadian universities, I think that it is important to note the approach being used is one which both the universities and Huawei have thoroughly discussed and agreed on. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach that can be used for all countries. Specifically, in Canada, we continuously discuss and try to improve our partnerships with Canadian universities. Copyrights on articles and papers belong to the professors who wrote them. If a partnership program results in a new patent, we will share the patent with the university. This is the specific approach that we have agreed upon with our Canadian university partners during our time together.

Jacquie McNish: Can I ask a little bit more about that? Is that fifty-fifty ownership?

Liang Hua: It isn't a simple fifty-fifty split. I know that it is standard in the industry for businesses to claim full ownership of their patents, but we consider our patents co-owned by the universities. The patents themselves are shared between Huawei and universities.

6. Sam Yu, Ming Pao Daily News: Huawei operates globally, so how does Huawei view the Canadian market from a global perspective? What is unique about the Canadian market? And what are its pros and cons?

Liang Hua: First, I would like to talk about our business performance in the Canadian market last year. Our total annual sales revenue last year was US$420 million, with our telecom operator business earning US$270 million and our consumer business earning around US$150 million.

Globally, Huawei's business strategy focuses on the ICT infrastructure and intelligent device markets. We follow the same strategy in the Canadian market. We sell ICT infrastructure solutions and intelligent devices to the Canadian market and provide related services.

The Canadian market is unique because the country is so vast but also sparsely populated. This leads to unequal access to digital dividends. We have to work with telecom operators to create innovative technological solutions, so that we can serve people in these different geographical locations. For example, the south is densely populated while the north is very cold and less densely populated. We needed to develop cost-effective solutions with telecom operators to deliver high- quality services to people across the country.

Because of this, our 5G R&D actually originated in Canada, and the international Huawei teams, Huawei Canada R&D teams, and our local partners all work together. The 5G solution they are developing for the future will be able to handle the demands of these different regions. For example, the north will use something we call 5G Air Fiber. Traditionally, things like satellites would be used for this kind of region, and while they could provide good coverage, their signal was pretty poor. A typical fiber solution, on the other hand, would be very costly.

Our 5G Air Fiber solution will be able to provide superior, high-quality home broadband called WTTx (Wireless to the X) services while still being cost-effective. We can develop this solution through cooperation with telecom operators. The operators can recoup their investment in 2 to 3 years because it is so efficient. The payback period of a fiber solution, in comparison, is 8 to 10 years. In the Canadian market, working with partners and telecom operators allows us to provide advanced, cost-effective communications technologies.

7. Jie Yang, OMNI TV: Last week, although the UK announced that there are ways to address security risks posed by Huawei's systems, Huawei's reputation in western countries has been impacted given the developments around the world. We are also aware of the unhappy incidents between China and Canada. So my question is, how will Huawei recover its reputation, telling Canadian citizens and customers that Huawei's products and solutions are still safe and can be trusted?

Liang Hua: Regarding our reputation, I don't think the impact you are discussing is as negative as many think. Rather, I think all this media coverage has ultimately just been a lot of free international advertising for us. Now, people all over the world know that the US has called on its allies to stand against our company. The whole world knows our name, and they know that this powerful country is fixated on us.

Regarding what we intend to do, I actually already touched on that in some of my previous answers. I think that cyber security and privacy protection are a challenge that the entire industry and the world at large must face together. If we cannot guarantee cyber security and privacy protection, it's very possible that the digital world we are building will collapse.

Cyber security and privacy protection are not the responsibility of any one single company. The idea that excluding Huawei would solve these challenges is simply not true. That's why I think it is very important for multiple stakeholders to work together and establish common standards. These stakeholders must include governments, telecom operators, equipment vendors, and other companies with relevant expertise. They must come together to agree on standards, a consistent certification and testing mechanism, and a network assurance mechanism.

Coming back to our business in Canada, as I have said before, Huawei regards cyber security and privacy protection as our top priorities. That reflects in how we do business in Canada.

Huawei is a business organization that holds the interests of customers close to our hearts. That is why we have established rigorous processes and tools to support product development, operations, and sales.

Huawei is only an equipment vendor. We do not own customer data. Nor do we own the networks. Those are all controlled by telecom operators.

The network equipment we provide has been thoroughly tested by telecom operators and governmental organizations. Huawei only provides support services when a customer requests it and we have received explicit authorization from the customer.

In Europe, there is a regulation called GDPR, and Huawei acts in strict accordance with it. We think that the GDPR is a very good example for other countries. It not only has clearly defined rules, but it is also just, fair, and non-discriminatory. In that sense, as long as we are compliant with the GDPR, our operations in Europe will be sound.

In Canada, our business operations will be compliant with the SRP. At the same time, we are also committed to complying with local cyber security and privacy protection laws.

8. Christine Dobby, the Globe and Mail: I just want to go back to the IP issue for a minute. So I just wanted to clarify, will Canadian companies be able to access or license IP held by Huawei and the universities? Will they be able to access on favorable terms? I also want to ask: Why are you doing all of this now? Is it related to your company trying to convince the government not to bar Huawei from 5G construction?

Liang Hua: Our approach to IP sharing has nothing to do with the 5G project in Canada. These are two separate discussions.

Our approach to sharing IP was set a long time ago. It is not something new. There are already common industry practices for accessing and licensing of IP, so there are set standards and procedures to achieve that. For the specifics about how our IP sharing works, and how access will be granted, I'll hand the mic over to my colleague from R&D to answer the question.

Christian Chua: The intellectual property created from the partnerships between Huawei Canada and Canadian universities comes in two types. First, the copy rights for papers and other publications. Those rights belong completely to the universities, which include the professors and students. The second type is patents. Keep in mind, not every partnership will generate patents. It is uncertain which partnerships will result in patents. This is one example of how we invest in uncertainties.

We treat all intellectual property created through our partnerships with universities according to standard industry practices, while at the same time complying with any policies or rules of the universities themselves. Over the last decade, the right to the IP resulting from our partnerships has sometimes belonged to the universities, sometimes to the professors themselves, and sometimes it is shared between Huawei and the universities. We started comprehensively sharing all relevant intellectual property with universities in 2018, in a move to demonstrate our direct contributions to Canada through our R&D and collaboration with universities. 

9. Rena Li, China Daily: Mr. Li, as Mr. Liang pointed out, Huawei is now increasing investment into research and development in Canada and is stepping up efforts to build ties with Canada's three largest network operators. Whether or not Canada will ban Huawei equipment from its 5G networks, is obviously something we are all discussing. If a ban were to be implemented, how would it impact your Canadian partnerships? What impact would you expect it to have on the local job market? I understand that Huawei has also contributed a lot to local communities over the last ten years, through things like aboriginal youth programs and ice hockey programs. I'd like to better understand the exact value of your contributions in these areas.

Eric Li: Huawei Canada has maintained a business presence in Canada for ten years and our business during this time has grown steadily. Last year, we started looking at and preparing for the decisions the government is going to have to make regarding 5G. In Canada though, 5G is just part of our business. 5G is not yet reality; it is still on the horizon. Apart from 5G, we have a lot of other businesses in Canada. As our Chairman has said, in Canada, we sell smartphones, network equipment, and related services. 

Liang Hua: I would like to add a few things here. Ban or no ban, at the end of the day, this is all about the government and customers making their choice. Expecting Huawei to serve every market in the world wouldn't be realistic. Some customers have already chosen us, and we will work hard to serve them as best as we can. For customers that have not chosen us, we regret not having the opportunity to provide services to them.

Our 5G end-to-end solutions are more than one year ahead of the competition, according to third-party assessments. I think this shows Huawei's great competitive strengths in the technological sophistication and cost-effectiveness of 5G solutions. Canadian telecom operators also have competitive strengths in networks and end user experiences. Through collaboration with them, we have supported their network development well. So far, we have secured over 30 5G commercial contracts around the world and we have already shipped over 30,000 5G base stations. We also hold over 2,570 patents related to 5G.

10. Matt Scuffham, Reuters: Can you comment specifically on whether the recent arrest of your Chief Financial Officer has altered your perspective on doing business in Canada?

Liang Hua: With regards to the arrest of Ms. Meng, there are many comments made by the US and Canadian government officials. As in my knowledge, charging and arresting a senior executive for corporate violating US sanctions laws is not common, and rare. Even the former Canadian ambassador said Ms. Meng has a good defense on the political character of the US extradition request. So I cannot say the US charges against and the extradition request of Ms. Meng are not politically driven.

I've been a colleague of Ms. Meng for many years. She is a very hardworking senior executive, and she is also a mom of young children. I believe she is innocent, and I hope the Canadian legal system could bring justice back to her. I hope that she could be freed and reunite with her family soon. But I'm not a lawyer, so I cannot comment on the substance of the case. 

To be honest, the current relationship between China and Canada is not ideal to the expectations of Chinese people and Canadian people. Over the past 10 years, we have invested more than US$500 million into R&D in Canada, and we currently employ over 1,100 employees here. Over 700 of these employees are locally hired R&D staff. Among those 1,100 employees, over 90% are locals. As a global company, we look forward to a good relationship between these two nations. We are also aware of some problems that need to be addressed.

Matt Scuffham: Does it change the approach going forward?

Liang Hua: We won't change our approach to R&D investment. We will continue to increase investments in R&D in Canada. Looking at the market, of course, we would like to work more with the telecom operators on projects using our advanced technologies, products, and solutions, and to deliver superior services to their customers.

11. Lindsey Wiebe, New York Times: I wonder if you could say a little bit more regarding the intellectual property decision, specifically coming back to the question that was asked earlier. If this is an arrangement that you've been making with universities since 2018, can you explain more about the announcement now? I guess further to that, this sort of press conference is quite unusual. I know it is your first time coming to Canada, Dr. Liang. I'm just curious as to your thoughts on that.

Liang Hua: Today presents us with an ideal opportunity for press activities. We made this announcement because of the opportunity presented, no other reason. I really look forward to more of these opportunities to speak with you in the future.

12. Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg News: Dr. Liang, can you tell us what Huawei's position is in response to the other US charges, not related to Ms. Meng but to T-Mobile?

Liang Hua: Huawei has officially released a statement on the T-Mobile case. I believe you've read the corporate statement already.

Josh Wingrove: Yes, but I'm hoping you could address it and specifically what do you think of that as a factor in Canada's review. Would that impact the Canadian government's review of Huawei?

Liang Hua: Since the company has already released a formal statement, I will just make two points: First, the law says a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Allegations are not convictions. Second, these are ongoing legal proceedings. We must let the courts resolve this case. I don't have further comments on the case itself.

It should be noted though, that the T-Mobile case was actually a civil case in 2017. It was settled according to legal procedures, and the Jury found neither damages nor willful and malicious conduct by Huawei with relation to the trade secret claim.

Regarding intellectual property rights, I would like to say a few more words. We have been involved in a number of IP-related disputes in the US. These disputes have all been properly resolved through due process, and we have gained rather good results. This proves that we respect a third party's IP rights.

Huawei currently holds a total of 87,000 patents around the world, among which 11,000 of those patents have been granted in the US. So you see, we also hope other parties will respect Huawei's IP rights.

It has always been our corporate policy to respect others' IP rights, and we believe it is only fair to expect the same consideration. Because of this, I would say that IP rights are not a problem in the Canadian market.

13. Kyle Kong, Fairchild TV: Huawei is taking a leading role in 5G networks. There is no debate about that. There have always been allegations though, some conspiracy theories and news reports linking this reality to Huawei's military background. Would you like to take this opportunity to remark on these allegations or clarify any points? Thank you.

Liang Hua: To start, Huawei does not have any kind of military background. Huawei is 100% privately owned by its 97,000 plus employees. There isn't any external organization holding even one cent of company shares.

Huawei's leading position in 5G, I think, is largely attributed to our investment, our dedicated effort, our technological innovations, and our R&D. We started our R&D on 5G back in 2009.

Back then, when we were rolling out 4G networks, we started to think about what would be the next generation of wireless technology. That's what 5G is, the 5th generation of wireless technology. Huawei has been investing in this technology at a very early stage, starting with the fundamental technologies, to the prototypes, to product enhancements. I would also say Huawei has been a key contributor to the creation of 5G standards. We are now a leader in 5G because of our hard work pursuing key technologies and innovations, like the chipsets used in 5G base stations. We have another technology called Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), which supports multiple radio access technologies. Another example is the technology we call blade base stations. These technological innovations are the result of our own investments, our own hard work, and the partnerships we have built with customers and other industry players.

Huawei is an innovation-driven 5G leader. I myself don't understand why there are so many stories being made up about how we got to where we are. It was simply our hard work in technology and innovation. I would say Huawei is a major contributor to the telecom industry, and I think drivers of innovation and great contributors should be respected.

14. Tara Deschamps, Canadian Press: What impact you think a potential ban will have on your current and future partnerships with universities? Will you have to end any of them or hold off on signing future partnerships?

Liang Hua: We will not change our approach regarding our investments and R&D in Canada. We will not change our position on partnerships with the Canadian universities. We will continue to invest more in R&D and enhance our partnerships with the Canadian universities.

15. Barbara Shecter, National Post/Financial Post: You have mentioned that you hoped that the decision on 5G comes down to technology. You have also made some statements on the political nature of these things. I am wondering, as the chair of the company, are you concerned at all that technology just won't ultimately matter and that these decisions will be made according to partner relationships, trade deals, treaties, and so on?

Liang Hua: We all advocate free trade for a strong economy. Political influences and factors may impact the scale of our business in the short term. In the long run though, we still believe that it will all come down to the technologies that will drive our society, and ultimately humankind, forward. Looking at our history, the impact technology has had on social progress is clear. For example, the evolution of telecom technologies from second, to third, fourth, and now fifth generation directly correlates to the development of new ways and more efficient methods of interpersonal communication. We have faith in the political figures and people in different countries to make smart decisions on technologies, and we believe they will not let the good technologies go to waste.

16. Omar Sachedina, CTV: You previously mentioned that you don't think the relationship between Canada and China is ideal. I'm just wondering, what do you think it would take specifically to make that relationship ideal?

Liang Hua: As a business, there is so little we can do in terms of the bilateral relationships between two countries.

Omar Sachedina: But, as a company that is trying to increase its presence in Canada, what would you like to see in terms of that relationship? What do you think could soften the environment?

Liang Hua: Since it operates locally, Huawei Canada will continue to be compliant with Canada's laws and regulations. We will also continue to give back to the local community through our corporate social responsibility programs. We will continue to focus on the work we do. Our telecom business and also consumer device business would like to bring our advanced products and solutions to consumers and customers in Canada. We want to provide not only advanced technology, but also affordable products and solutions, so that the telecom operators can roll out better networks within Canada.

We want to help give Canadians more intelligent devices so they can enjoy all the benefits of a digital society. We still feel Canada is a very free and inclusive country. That's why we will continue to enhance our investment in research and development in Canada. As a company, we expect to operate in an environment that supports free trade, that has a level playing field, and that treats vendors fairly and equally. We believe in cooperation and collaboration because we think that only with these tools can we achieve shared success.

17. Lynn Grenier, IT World Canada: We've talked a lot about telecom and 5G. I think we may have killed those subjects. But Huawei is a very big company and produces a lot more than that. When do you plan to bring in more of your devices in Canada, not just phones, and more of your other products we don't see here?

Liang Hua: As long as we are allowed to sell, we are more than willing to provide various consumer devices to the Canadian market and to the Canadian consumers, including smartphones, personal computers, and other home devices. We position ourselves as a provider of smart devices catering for all scenarios to support smart living.

We are still in the midst of envisioning what form factor devices would take in all scenarios of smart living in the future. We believe that devices will definitely play a crucial role in the future environment, especially when it comes to 5G. 5G provides much greater speed, lower latency and massive connectivity, and consumers will need the right type of devices to tap into the benefits provided by the network.

The 5G devices include what we have talked about: the CPE and smartphones. Next week at MWC in Barcelona, we will launch our foldable 5G smartphones. It is worth the wait. Stay tuned. 

18. Alicja Siekierska, Yahoo Finance Canada: I just want to go back to the intellectual property question. Could you say specifically how this is a different policy for you, and whether it is going to be rolled out in other countries as well.

Liang Hua: The specific IP sharing approach that we have adopted with the Canadian universities is a result of mutual discussions. It's a mechanism that we agree on with the Canadian universities during the course of cooperation. I would say that the different partnerships in different countries would call for differentiated approaches. We would not take a one-size-fits-all approach and replicate it everywhere. I think it has to be a mutually beneficial approach. That is the ultimate principle when it comes to university research partnerships. And we would like to also contribute our value through further investments in research and development. That's what we can further contribute to the partnerships.

It is an industry practice for enterprises to work with universities on research programs, and we follow that industry practice. We have made extensive investments in research and development ourselves. Last year, Huawei invested US$15 billion in research and development.

In addition to our in-house investment in research and development, we also value the partnerships we have with universities. But it will focus on different domains, depending on which universities in which countries we are talking about. The overall principle is that the approach chosen will fit the specific domains we collaborate in. Huawei will continue to enhance our own investments in research and development as we enhance our partnerships with universities. We believe by coordinating the two approaches, we will be better able to contribute to the digital and intelligent society so that it can benefit all.