The chairman of Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei has defended a $206 million contract with the state government, citing confirmation it received from the Department of Home Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office that the company was "very welcome to participate in the PTA [Public Transport Authority] project in Western Australia".

John Lord, the former Navy officer who heads the company in Australia, said he respected and admired the WA Government for their focus on security and it had "gathered the best information possible from state and commonwealth agencies, and private security experts, before awarding the contract".

Huawei Australia chairman John Lord has defended the company's contract with the state government. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

Huawei was given the job of building a mobile data communications network for Perth's public train system.

"The cyber security requirements contained in the PTA tender were some of the most stringent Huawei has responded to anywhere in the world," he said.