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Huawei CEO tells staff to keep fewer records, write shorter memos

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May 10, 2021 at 6:36 a.m. EDT
Surveillance cameras are seen near a traffic light and a Huawei sign in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, on Thursday. (Darko Vojinovic/AP)
correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that U.S. authorities seeking the extradition of Meng Wanzhou had found a PowerPoint presentation on one of her devices. The indictment does not specify how U.S. authorities obtained the presentation. The article has been corrected.

SEOUL — Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, has ordered staff members to keep records only as long as necessary and write shorter memos, following several crises involving internal documents, including the detention of his daughter.

Ren advised employees of the Chinese telecommunications giant to use fewer adjectives in reports and to opt to chat in person with colleagues over coffee, according to a transcript of an internal speech from last month.