As part of the process to identify his successor, Cisco CEO John Chambers sought the advice of his friend and business rival Ren Zhengfei, according to the Huawei founder.

Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark notes in a new blog that during a recent interaction with the Chinese media, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. founder Ren claimed that Chambers had sought his opinion about who should take over as chief executive at Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO). (See Is Cisco's Chambers Retiring in the Fall?)

Well, if you can't turn to your friends for advice, who can you turn to?

That's the sort of anecdote, though, that might give some Cisco supporters the heebie-jeebies, given Huawei's pariah status in the US. (See US vs Huawei/ZTE: The Verdict and China Lashes Out at 'Cold War Mentality'.)

And it's not the only namecheck Huawei has given Cisco recently. At the Chinese vendor's 4th ICT Finance Forum in New York last week, Huawei's CFO Cathy Meng praised Cisco's contribution to the digital world:

(See Huawei CFO: Ensuring Secure, Stable Network Operations is Huawei's Highest Priority.)

For more on Ren's friendly engagements with Chambers, and the Huawei founder's views on his own succession, the possibility of an IPO, and the resignation of handsets marketing chief Colin Giles, see Clark's blog, Ren Zhengfei on finding a successor, going public and US vs China.

— Ray Le Maistre, , Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading