Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei has reported a 34% increase in annual profits, its fastest growth in profits for four years.
Net profit for 2013 was 21bn yuan ($3.38bn; £2bn), compared with 15.6bn yuan the year before.
Huawei said the growth was due to strong demand from China, as the country expands its 4G mobile network technology.
China accounted for one-third of the company’s total revenue.
“Thanks to the favourable global macroeconomic and industry environment, as well as the effective execution of our company strategy, Huawei basically achieved our business targets for 2013,” said Huawei current chief executive Eric Xu in a statement.
The company says it expects revenue will grow by 10% this year, and is hoping for global sales of $70bn by 2018.
Smartphone help
Huawei, which has traditionally concentrated on making telecoms network equipment, has benefited by diversifying into fast-growing sectors such as smartphone manufacturing.
The company said it shipped enough smartphones last year to allow it to become the third-biggest smartphone manufacturer globally.
It also recently expanded into the market for wearable technology, introducing its hybrid Talkband smart device in February.
Furthermore, China’s investment in fourth-generation mobile network technology has led to a steady stream of revenue for the firm.
That has helped to offset sluggish sales in Europe, as well as Huawei’s difficulties in the US and Australia, where local regulators have raised security concerns.
The US government has long seen Huawei as a potential security threat and has blocked some business deals in the US over fears that it would open the door to Chinese military hackers.
Huawei has dismissed these claims as nationalism.
Last week, a report in the New York Times alleged that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had infiltrated Huawei’s servers.
In response, China has demanded a clear explanation from the US government.
Source: BBC