Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.Photo:VCG

Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou has quit her position as a member of the board of directors of Hangzhou Huawei Enterprises Communications Technologies Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shenzhen-based Huawei Tech Investment Co, data from corporate information search platform Tianyancha showed. 

The move is part of a broader reshuffle in Huawei's subsidiaries in recent months, which industry observers believe shows the Chinese company is short-listing potential senior executives and sorting out management responsibilities so that it could be prepared for a drawn-out battle with Washington.

Meng's move came a year after her arrest at Vancou­ver airport at the request of the US. Analysts said that as Meng cannot fulfill her corporate duties, it is reasonable that she quit her position. 

In addition to Meng, Tian Xingpu, director of Huawei's Beijing research institute, replaces Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping as the Hangzhou subsidiary's new chairman and legal representative. 

The subsidiary was set up in 2008, with registered capital of 100 million yuan ($14.32 million). 

In November, Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei left his post as vice chairman of Beijing Huawei Digital Technology Co, a Beijing subsidiary fully owned by Huawei, data from Tianyancha showed. The subsidiary's chairman Sun Yafang as well as other board directors including Xu Wenwei, Guo Ping, Eric Xu Zhijun and Ken Hu Houkun also quit. 

Tian was also named as the Beijing company's new legal representative.

Some industry insiders said that the changes in the Beijing and Hangzhou subsidiaries do not equate to a seismic shift in Huawei's leadership. "It will remain the same, but the company is nurturing a deep talent pool for future generational change," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Ma described the shift as a "proactive strategy". Huawei is making itself prepared in terms of corporate management to fight a prolonged tech war with the US. Washington has been deploying all the tools at its disposal to bully and curb the Chinese company since the trade war unfolded. 

"Research and development is of great significance for Huawei's development. So naming Tian, the former head of the Beijing research institute, as the new chairman of the Beijing subsidiary is also a choice made out of management considerations," Ma noted. 

Global Times