Huawei has agreed to handle “the development of 5G technologies and the pilot launch of fifth-generation networks in 2019-2020” in Russia. The Chinese tech giant, which was blacklisted by the US government earlier this year over security concerns, signed a contract with Russian mobile network operator MTS on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The contract is the latest example of increased cooperation by China and Russia in domains like technology and defense. Last week, it was revealed that Huawei is discussing the installation of Russian operating system Aurora on 360,000 Huawei tablets as a “pilot project.” The tablets will be used by the Russian government to hold a population census in Russia next year.
