SHENZHEN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China's technology firm Huawei said Friday that its net profit last year had grown by 28 percent to 47.5 billion yuan (7.55 billion U.S. dollars).

Its sales increased by 16 percent from 2016, reaching over 603.6 billion yuan.

Headquartered in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, privately-owned Huawei is a world-leading telecom solution provider and also the world's third largest smartphone brand, behind Apple and Samsung.