The highest Chinese building will open to the public on Saturday

Shanghai - China's tallest building, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, will open to the public on Saturday, 14 years after the project began. This was stated today by Japanese construction entrepreneur Minoru Mori, who is behind the project. According to Mori, the building, which is 492 meters tall, has the largest roof in the world.
    Mori purchased the land in Shanghai in 1994. However, construction work was interrupted by the Asian financial crisis, and the construction resumed in 2003. The project comes at a time when the Chinese real estate market appears to be cooling off after several years of rapid growth. However, the supply of high-quality office space in the skyscraper remains low.
    Mori Building owns 70 percent of the project. According to the company, the building is currently 45 percent occupied, but occupancy is expected to rise to 90 percent within one year. Tenants include leading Japanese financial companies such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Mizuho Corporate Banking, French bank BNP Paribas, and German Commerzbank. Rent is three dollars (50 CZK) per square meter per day.
    The project has undergone several changes over the years. The first occurred after the terrorist attacks in September 2001, when the construction was reinforced. The builder also changed the original plan, which had the building's apex cut out in a circular shape, due to complaints that it resembled the rising sun on the Japanese flag, a symbol disliked by many Chinese because of the Japanese occupation during World War II. Mori changed it to a rectangle. The building was also raised and aspired to be the tallest building in the world, but it was ultimately surpassed by the Taiwanese skyscraper Taipei 101, the AP agency reported.