China's tallest building... is a dragon?

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CHINA'S tallest building, to be built in Shanghai, will look like a coiled dragon, according to its designer.

The US firm Gensler and the Shanghai-based Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tongji University will soon deliver more details about the skyscraper, whose construction is planned to start this year, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

A dozen overseas and domestic firms offered designs for the building from April 2005 but Gensler's "Dragon" finally defeated the "Bamboo Shoot" from Britain's Foster & Partners.

The top of the new skyscraper will look either like a turned up dragon tail or an inverted Olympic torch, according to the report.

The 580-meter-high Shanghai Center will top the city's skyline and form an impressive triangle with the 420-meter-high Jin Mao Tower and the 492-meter-high Shanghai World Financial Center in Lujiazui finance and trade zone in Pudong New Area.

A project company with 5.4 billion yuan (US$786 million) in capital has been registered in the city. The Shanghai Chengtou Co, the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone Development Co and the Shanghai Construction Group are the shareholders.

Once it is completed, the super highrise will have 118 stories and exceed Taiwan's 501-meter Taipei 101 to become the country's tallest building.

It will also be taller than the 555-meter-high Burj Dubai, which is still under construction.