Shanghai Tower, World’s Second-Tallest Building, Nearing Completion

The world’s second-tallest building is nearing completion in Shanghai, China.

The Shanghai Tower is nearing completion, and will not only be the world’s second-tallest building, but will also be China’s tallest building.

CTV News reported “The final beam was hoisted to the top of the skyscraper and installed in a flag-waving ritual on Saturday.”

The report continued on to say that the Shanghai Tower will stand at a total of 2,073 feet tall.

The tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa stands at 2,722 feet tall.

The Hindu reported that a ceremony on Saturday celebrated the “topping-out” of the 125-storey building.

The structure was designed by the American architectural firm Gensler according to Voice of America.

The Hindu report stated that the Shanghai Tower is likely to open in 2015 and will house offices and a luxury hotel.

“Built in Shanghai’s Pudong financial district, the building towers over iconic skyscrapers that have defined the Shanghai skyline, including the 492-metre World Financial Centre — unveiled as China’s tallest building only five years ago — and the 420-metre Jin Mao tower.”

The CTV News report continued on to say that the structure could also house retail space and possibly a museum.

Wu Weiming, who helped installed the last beam, told reporters: “I’m very proud.”

Earlier this summer, China also unveiled the world’s largest building in terms of floor space.

The New Century Global Center in Chengdu is a 1.7 million-square-meter mega-structure.

The Inquisitr reported that The Global Center, which opened June 28, is home to business offices, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, a faux Mediterranean village and family-themed attractions such as a water park called Paradise Island.

CTV News stated the following:

“The Shanghai Tower is the last piece in a group of super-tall skyscrapers in Shanghai’s Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, which includes the Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower, both among the tallest in the world.”

Reports say that the Shanghai Tower, the world’s second-tallest building, could officially open any time between 2014 and 2015.

[Image via Dispatch News Desk]