In China World's Largest Building Nearing Completion
Nearing completion is the largest building in the world which is based in China.
Local authorities in China said that the 100-metre-high New Century Global Centre is a symbol of the spread of China's boom, which is 500 meters long and 400 meters wide, with 1.7 million square meters of floor space, big enough to hold 20 Sydney Opera Houses.
By comparison the Pentagon in Washington, still one of the world's largest office buildings, is barely a third of the size with a mere 600,000 square meters of floor space, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The Global Centre is just a few kilometres from the US consulate where the police chief of Chongqing fled to seek asylum, triggering the fall of his patron Bo Xilai and exposing the biggest scandal to rock China's Communist Party for years.
The city of 14 million people plans to expand its subway from two lines to 10 by 2020, build a new airport and become a new Silicon Valley, the report said.
According to the report, the Global Centre will house offices, conference rooms, a university complex, two commercial centres, two five star hotels, an IMAX cinema, a 'Mediterranean village', a skating rink and a pirate ship, among other attractions.
About 400,000 square meters will be devoted to shopping, most of the outlets high-end luxury brands.
Despite Chengdu being around 1000km from the sea the complex has a marine theme, with fountains, a huge water park and an artificial beach, accented by the undulating roof, meant to resemble a wave.
The exterior facade is near completion and an army of workers are rushing to finish the Chinese-designed building in time for a June 2013 international forum hosted by US magazine Fortune.
According to the report, in a video, developers China Exhibition and Travel Group described Chengdu as a 'world class modern city of idyllic beauty', and said that the Global Centre, including restaurants serving 'the rarest oceanic fish species', will bring to mind 'the fabulous heavens'.
Source: ANI