Huawei research lab in southern China catches fire: state media

Shanghai

A research lab belonging to Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies in the southern city of Dongguan caught fire yesterday and firefighters are currently at the scene, Chinese state media reported citing local authorities. The fire is currently being extinguished and there are currently no casualties, state broadcaster CCTV said on its official Weibo account.

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lab in the city’s Songshan Lake area is a steel structure and the main material burning is sound-absorbing cotton, Dongguan city fire-rescue department said in a statement. The lab mainly conducts research into materials as well as testing for 4G and 5G antennas related to Huawei’s base station business, a source familiar with the matter said.

It is part of a larger Huawei manufacturing facility. The company has another sprawling European-themed campus close by, which has offices for 25,000 employees. Videos posted on Chinese social media said to be of the Huawei research lab showed giant plumes of dark gray smoke billowing from the building