"If you have a problem in a network, do you really want to rely on your vendor if you are in the middle of a trade war, for example?" he said.

Most of the narrative on Chinese tech is that they've copied American ideas and then sold them back to the West at cheaper prices.

While that may have been true in the past, it's certainly not fair to say that today.

My experience of reporting on Chinese tech over the last few years has shown me that Chinese companies are innovating at a pace that is often unparalleled by other countries.

Recently, Chinese firms have also beaten global firms in China, as ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing proved recently by driving Uber out.

Some say the West's fear originates in envy and an ignorance of just how hard Chinese firms can make their staff work.

"Unless people have seen the Chinese tech culture known as 996, they don't understand Chinese tech," writes Lawrence Kuok in supchina.com.

(The number 996 refers to the Chinese tech firms' practice of working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.)