BEIJING • Huawei Technologies Co will shake up its board for the first time in six years as the Chinese company prepares to push deeper into developed markets such as the US for growth.

China’s largest networking gear maker will in 2018 elect directors for the first time since 2012, rotating CEO Guo Ping said in an interview yesterday. That’ll reshape the board at a company controlled by ex-army engineer Ren Zhengfei, and infuse new blood into a telecoms giant.

It’s now eyeing new businesses such as the cloud, and markets from Europe to Japan. Huawei, which in 2016 declared it will someday surpass both Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co in market share, has long been hampered in the US by ques

tions over its links to the Chinese government — an issue that’s come before Congress. But Huawei could conceivably enter the market through partnerships with local providers, though Guo said the priority for now was to strengthen its existing positions: Apart from China, Huawei is a major force in markets from Africa to Eastern Europe.

“We are very open in choosing partners. We only provide services and will not use customers’ data, that’s what differs us from other players,” Guo said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Shanghai. “Some US companies have come to us for partnerships. They wanted a local player to help them provide services inside China. There are all kinds of possibilities.” — Bloomberg