SHENZHEN, China — These are not carefree days for Huawei, the Chinese tech behemoth. The United States is trying to persuade the world not to use the company's equipment in cellular networks. The Justice Department has charged the firm and its chief financial officer with bank fraud and theft of trade secrets.

Yet Huawei's business is soaring. And the company's leaders also sound confident that Washington can do little to stop it from flying higher.

Huawei earned more than $US105 billion ($148 billion) in revenue in 2018, up nearly a fifth from 2017. Credit:Bloomberg

Huawei earned more than $US105 billion ($148 billion) in revenue in 2018, up nearly a fifth from 2017, Guo Ping, the company's deputy chairman, said on Friday. Profit grew by a quarter, to more than $US8 billion. Though Huawei has not sold shares to the public, it publishes audited yearly financial results as a gesture toward openness.

Speaking at the company's headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Mr Guo said "we will do everything we can to shake off outside distractions, improve management and make progress toward our strategic goals".