HUAWEI Technologies paid out dividends totalling 61.40 billion yuan (US$9.65 billion) to current and retired workers in its employee shareholder scheme, according to a filing with the Shanghai Clearing House.

Some 131,507 current and former workers are involved in the shareholder scheme, according to the company’s 2021 annual report released last week.

The company is private and wholly owned by its employees, it said. The filing, published Saturday, does not break down the dividend distribution.

It comes as U.S. sanctions continue to weigh heavily on Huawei’s business, with full-year revenue tumbling 29% last year to 636.8 billion yuan.

Net profit jumped 76% to 113.7 billion yuan, but that was mainly due to the sale of its budget-brand smartphone unit Honor and server businesses.

The United States imposed a series of trade restrictions on Huawei throughout 2019 and 2020, citing “national security” concerns, which Huawei denies.

In another development, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s finance chief and deputy chairwoman, has been named as the rotating chairwoman of the Shenzhen-based tech giant, according to the company’s website.

Meng is the first new rotating chair since the company started the management system in 2018. (SD-Agencies)