Shanghia R&D center

One of Huawei's first brushes with Western competition came in 2003, when Cisco sued it on charges of stealing patented source code. That first impression played into the stereotype of Chinese imitators. But Huawei is trying to burnish its image as an innovator. This 1-kilometer-long building is a research and development center in Shanghai, opened in 2010, where 10,000 employees work.