In its recently released Sustainability Report 2024, ZTE outlines how it aims to integrate sustainable development with its corporate strategies in order to strengthen its competitiveness in the sector.
Central to this vision are the three cornerstones of ZTE’s sustainable development strategy - internal control, compliance, and talent. The company aims to take a proactive role in improving global sustainability, as evidenced by its publication of its sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports.
Xie Junshi, EVP and COO of ZTE, states in the report that ZTE has embedded ESG into every aspect of its operations, underlining its commitment to innovation-driven and sustainable development. “By harnessing digital and intelligent technologies, we are developing a development model that coexists harmoniously with nature and society, while exploring a path for business continuity in the new era.”
As part of its sustainability commitments, ZTE is a member of the UN Global Compact and the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) as well as a key participant in the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition initiated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Xu Ziyang, Executive Director and CEO of ZTE, says in the report: "The new wave of AI-driven technological revolution, particularly the boom of large models and generative AI, has propelled global digital and intelligent transformation”. Xu notes that ZTE has risen to these challenges and opportunities as a driver of the digital economy, and outlines some of the vendor’s achievements.
Firstly, ZTE last year received official approval from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its near-term 1.5°C target and long-term net-zero targets, making it the first large-scale ICT tech company in China to receive dual approvals from SBTi while also securing a place on the CDP A List. In 2025, ZTE once again received the prestigious CDP A score for leading climate action in CDP's 2024 disclosures. In the same year, ZTE also published its Net-Zero Strategy White Paper.
Another key achievement by ZTE was the reduction of its Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 13.4% year-on-year in 2024. The vendor reduced its Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions by 14.317 million tons compared to 2023, with telecom products seeing an 8.39% reduction in physical emissions intensity during the use and maintenance phase, while terminal products achieved a 5.02% year-on-year reduction in absolute emissions over the entire product lifecycle.
To meet these carbon reduction targets and contribute to global sustainable development, ZTE is advancing its "Green Digital Path" initiative across four key areas: green corporate operations, green supply chain, green digital infrastructure, and green empowerment of industries. The vendor has managed to increase revenue while reducing energy consumption, with energy efficiency improving by 20% in 2024 as compared to 2021 levels.
ZTE has actively integrated cloud and network infrastructure, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, AI and other cutting-edge technologies into traditional industries, facilitating both development and emission reduction. In 2024, ZTE conducted onsite CSR audits for 261 production suppliers (representing 86.90% of the top 90% of suppliers by procurement amount). As of 2024, the company has conducted carbon footprint assessments for 154 products, covering all its product categories. In the same year, ZTE helped 100 suppliers complete organizational-level carbon inventory and assisted 10 suppliers in setting carbon reduction targets and measures.
ZTE remains committed to driving corporate growth through technological innovation, and is pushing efforts in AI engineering, 5G-A international standards development, 6G technology breakthroughs, industry-academia-research collaboration, and intellectual property protection and management. As of December 31st 2024, ZTE had filed 93,000 global patent applications, with over 48,000 granted. Of these, in the field of chips, the vendor has been granted over 2,000 of around 5,500 applications filed, while in AI, it has been granted around half of the more than 5,000 patent applications that it has filed.
In terms of corporate risk prevention and control, ZTE places particular emphasis on identifying and responding to emerging risks. As AI technology rapidly transforms the world, it brings immense business opportunities while also raising widespread concerns over ethical risks such as privacy infringement and algorithmic bias. To proactively address these challenges, ZTE established the Science and Technology Ethics Committee in 2024, demonstrating high-level organizational commitment to ethical governance. In addition, the company has put in place a technology ethics governance framework to review and assess AI-related R&D projects individually, ensuring the safe, reliable, and inclusive development of AI.
Based on local development stages, resource conditions, and application scenarios, ZTE leverages its technological strengths to provide different countries with solutions and networks that balance affordability with cutting-edge technologies, contributing to global digitalization and socio-economic development. For example, ZTE and Orange jointly launched the "Enhance Rural Area" project, delivering communications infrastructure to rural regions in Liberia and enabling digital access for more than 580,000 people in remote areas. In Hainan, ZTE ensured uninterrupted emergency communications with satellite terminals during Typhoon Yagi. In Anyang, Henan, the company supported the development of a drone-based blood delivery system, effectively addressing the "last mile" challenge in urban medical logistics.
ZTE has pursued sustainable development by advancing both technological leadership and responsible practices and its ESG performance continues to earn high recognition from multiple global authorities and rating agencies. In addition to making the prestigious CDP A List for leading climate action for the second year running, in 2024 ZTE received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability excellence. The vendor was also selected for the S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook 2024 (China Edition), garnering the title of ‘Industry Mover’. It was also listed among 2024 the Forbes China ESG 50 list and received the World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award. Furthermore, ZTE won two BDO ESG awards, as well as the LinkedIn MostIn Awards – Global Talent Magnet Employer.
