Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei Appears Publicly After Rumors of Family Exodus

On Sept. 22, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei appeared publicly in Shenzhen, effectively undercutting rumors that he and members of his family had fled China after being absent from public view for more than a week. Dongfeng Motor said its general manager and deputy Party secretary, Feng Changjun, traveled to Shenzhen to meet Ren and other senior Huawei executives.

The two sides discussed deeper cooperation, technological development, and several jointly developed vehicle models. Photos released by Dongfeng showed Ren attending the meeting.

Ren told the delegation that “the foundation of building cars lies in safety and quality,” adding that Huawei was willing to use its technological strengths to help Dongfeng develop products that could withstand market scrutiny. The appearance came after days of increasingly elaborate speculation surrounding Ren and his family’s decision to leave China before new exit regulations were imposed.

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Beginning around Sept. 11, screenshots circulated on Chinese and overseas social media purporting to show internal Huawei discussions claiming senior executives had been unable to reach Ren. Other posts alleged that more than 10 members of his family had simultaneously become unreachable and speculated that they had left China by sea.

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A separate video was presented online as showing armed police surrounding Huawei’s headquarters, though some users subsequently said the footage appeared to be several years old.

Ren’s younger daughter, actress Annabel Yao, appeared at a Beijing event on Sept. 14 and again in video footage several days later. In the latter, she wore a shirt bearing the phrase, “Don’t believe rumors; don’t spread rumors about Teacher Yao,” prompting many viewers to interpret the appearance as a tongue-in-cheek response to the speculation.

Ren himself, however, remained out of public view until the Dongfeng meeting. Independent commentator Cai Shenkun wrote after the appearance: “The entire internet has been enthusiastically spreading stories that Ren Zhengfei and his whole family fled overseas. The stories are all frightening and sensational. I mentioned in my video that the possibility was almost zero.”

Ren did not publicly address the rumors during the meeting, meaning his appearance amounts to an indirect rebuttal rather than a formal denial.

The speculation also coincided with the opening of Huawei’s long-awaited federal criminal trial in Brooklyn on Sept. 9. U.S. prosecutors have long accused Huawei of operating as a criminal enterprise that stole trade secrets from American companies and misled financial institutions about its business dealings in Iran. Huawei has denied wrongdoing, arguing that prosecutors have distorted legitimate business practices and attempted to portray isolated disputes as evidence of a broader criminal scheme.

The case dates back to a 2018 indictment involving allegations of bank fraud, sanctions violations, trade-secret theft, money laundering, and obstruction. Reuters reported that the trial could last roughly three months. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren’s eldest daughter, is not a defendant in the current trial. However, statements she made as part of her 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department can be introduced as evidence against Huawei.

In June, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly ruled that Meng’s statement acknowledging that she had provided a financial institution with misleading information concerning Huawei’s Iran-related business was admissible.