Grew up in a rural family where both parents were school teachers; spent primary and middle school years in a remote mountainous town in Guizhou Province. 1963, studied at the Chongqing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. After graduation, employed in the civil engineering industry until 1974, joining the military's Engineering Corps as a soldier tasked with establishing the Liao Yang Chemical Fiber Factory. Subsequently, positions as a Technician, an Engineer, and was lastly promoted as a Deputy Director, which was a professional role equivalent to a Deputy Regimental Chief, but without military rank. 1978, attended the National Science Conference and 1982, the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. 1983, retired from the army when the Chinese Government disbanded the entire Engineering Corps. Then worked in the logistics service base of the Shenzhen South Sea Oil Corporation. Established Huawei with a capital of CNY21,000 in 1987; since 1988, Chief Executive Officer.