Chinese tech giant Huawei on Tuesday reported its sales revenue totaled 182.2 billion yuan (about 25.7 billion U.S. dollars) for the first quarter of 2020, up by 1.4 percent year on year. 

Huawei's net profit margin during the three-month period was 7.3 percent, and its overall business results in Q1 are in line with expectations, the company said. 

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, Huawei and its supplier network are working together to address the tough challenges facing production and resume operations. The company and its partners have rapidly rolled out multiple 5G- and AI-powered medical applications since the outbreak. 

"The AI-assisted coronavirus diagnosis solution cuts CT scan review times from 12 minutes down to two, helping doctors improve their diagnostic efficiency. 5G-enabled remote video consultation helps mitigate shortages of frontline experts and increases the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment of critical patients. AI-powered thermal imaging devices can take temperatures, increasing the efficiency of infection prevention and control in public places," said Huawei in a statement. 

As of Monday, 95 percent of the workers at the Huawei Wuhan Research Center had returned to their posts, with full recovery of production capacity of its core product lines. As the company's largest R&D base in central China, it sheds light on cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent terminals while conducting parallel tests on 20,000 smartphones and pads, 1,000 PCs and 5,000 home devices.

Huawei said it plans further development in the 5G technology as China speeds up construction of new infrastructure and starts large-scale 5G commercialization in 2020. 

According to Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, the company plans to increase its R&D budget this year by 5.8 billion U.S. dollars to some 20 billion U.S. dollars. The tech giant's R&D investment in 2018 surpassed that of Microsoft, Apple and Intel, ranking fourth among the global tech companies.

The company's global sales revenue in 2019 rounded off at 858.8 billion yuan, up by 19.1 percent year on year, with its net profit reaching 62.7 billion yuan and cash flow from operating activities topping 91.4 billion yuan.

(With input from Xinhua)