Question 1

True or false: Ren Zhengfei served in the People's Liberation Army as an engineer.

Accepted Answer

True. He was a military engineer in the PLA from 1974 to 1983, working on construction and technology before starting Huawei.

Question 2

True or false: Ren Zhengfei's father was a famous Chinese economist.

Accepted Answer

False. His father was a rural schoolteacher, not an economist. This myth likely arises from confusion with other Chinese business figures.

Question 3

True or false: Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei after being fired from a state-owned factory.

Accepted Answer

True. He started Huawei in 1987 with ¥21,000 after leaving a state-run electronics firm, not from firing—but a common myth says he was fired.

Question 4

True or false: Ren Zhengfei studied engineering at Tsinghua University.

Accepted Answer

False. He studied at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, not Tsinghua. The Ivy-like prestige of Tsinghua is often mistakenly attached to him.

Question 5

True or false: Ren Zhengfei's daughter Meng Wanzhou was CFO of Huawei until her arrest.

Accepted Answer

False. Meng Wanzhou was Huawei's CFO until 2023 when she became rotating chairwoman. The claim she ceased after arrest is false; she remained interim CFO.

Question 6

True or false: Ren Zhengfei owns less than 1% of Huawei's shares.

Accepted Answer

True. He holds about 0.75% equity; the rest is owned by employees. This surprising structure makes him a minority owner of his own company.

Question 7

True or false: Ren Zhengfei has never given a public interview in English.

Accepted Answer

True. Despite global fame, he avoids English media interviews, speaking only in Chinese through translators, a little-known personal choice.

Question 8

True or false: Ren Zhengfei once worked as a librarian in the military.

Accepted Answer

False. He was an engineer, not a librarian. The librarian myth may stem from his reported love of reading technical books during military service.

Ren Zhengfei Trivia Questions