Centrepiece of ambitious development will be the tallest building in Beijing
Ground was finally broken in phase three of the construction of the China World Trade Centre in Beijing yesterday, almost five years after the initial agreement for the development was signed.
At the centre of the US$800 million project, in the capital's Chaoyang district, will be a 300-metre high tower that will be the tallest building in the city on its completion at the end of 2007.
The complex will house a five-star hotel, offices, a shopping centre and a cinema. The whole development, whose first and second phases opened in 1990 and 1999 respectively, will boast a total gross floor area of about 1.1 million square metres.
The development is a listed joint venture between several mainland companies and the Kerry Group, the largest shareholder in the SCMP Group, which publishes the South China Morning Post.
At the ground-breaking ceremony, Chaoyang district government chief Chen Gang said the third phase of the project was essential to the development of the central business district and expressed confidence in its success.