Local officials of Shanghai's Pudong New District announced together with the developers on Friday to go ahead with the plan to build the tallest skyscraper in the world.
The officials said the design of the planned building, known as the Shanghai Global Financial Center, has been revised for safety reasons after the September 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in the United States.
Construction of the project in Pudong's Lujiazui financial and trade zone, began in August 1997. It was suspended temporarily after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
So far, the exact height of the planned building has not been disclosed. Designers and developers of the project have eyed the facts that a building as tall as 452 meters is being built in Malaysia, the International Financial Building in Taiwan Province may be as tall as 481 meters, and Hong Kong is also considering erecting the world's tallest building.
They stressed that Shanghai still wants to build the tallest structure in the world.
The officials and the major shareholders in the planned structure expect construction of the project to restart within this year.
(eastday.com February 25, 2002)
