With that success, the company decided in 2011 to take a new tack, offering information and telecommunications services to businesses directly rather than through other telecommunications companies.

That business is now growing rapidly, Zhang says, and the company expects it will have annual turnover of $1 billion in the coming three to five years.

Compared with Huawei's expansion in the US, which has run into roadblocks, Zhang says his company has been welcomed in most European countries and will diversify its service portfolio in the continent.

In Europe, Huawei has been "treated fairly", Zhang says, "unlike in the US, where we have encountered access difficulties for groundless reasons given by the US side".

Huawei has 13 R&D sites in eight European countries (Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Sweden) and operates dozens of innovation centers in partnership with local telecom and ICT operators.

The company, paving the way for its expansion in Europe, says it plans to create 5,500 jobs on the continent over the next five years.

"Apart from research and development, localization is our key to success," Zhang says.

The exhibition center in Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam, at the opening of which Van de Laan spoke recently, is aimed at global and innovative solutions specifically for the enterprise market. The 250 square meter center is also being used to illustrate and promote cloud computing, the real-world use of big data and the impact of social media on the success of enterprises.

Huawei says the center is a milestone in its expansion in Europe, particularly in the Benelux countries.

"By opening this new exhibition center I believe Huawei is demonstrating its commitment to long-term development in the Netherlands," says Li Fei, economic counselor of the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands.

"It also demonstrates the Netherlands' favorable investment environment."

Simon Xin, CEO of Huawei Benelux, says the company has expanded rapidly since it was founded in 1987. "We have more than 150,000 employees in more than 140 countries … In Benelux we have more than 650 employees, of whom 73 percent are local staff, and we aim for more."

Europe is like a second home market for the company, Zhang says. Nevertheless, the enterprise business in Europe has not been all plain sailing, given the highly competitive market. But if Huawei can succeed in Europe, it can achieve more globally, Zhang says.

The company has about 10,000 staff working in research and development on the business sector to meet mounting demand, he says. The company also sells communications and information technology for railways and says it has nearly 35 percent of the global market.

"We expect to enter this field in Europe, too," Zhang says.