China’s Tall Building Construction Spree

1. The People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong) is home to four of the top ten — and eight of the top 20 — tallest skyscrapers in the world.

2. The Shanghai Tower, the tallest skyscraper in China, was completed in 2015. It measures 2,073 feet (632 meters) in height — and is the second-tallest building in the world.

3. In addition, 60 of the 100 tallest buildings currently under construction are being built in China.

4. Taiwan’s TAIPEI 101 tower, completed in 2004, is the fifth-tallest building in the world as of January 2016. It measures 1,667 feet (508 meters) tall, or slightly more than half a kilometer.

5. The pre-modern world’s surviving tall structures – such as the Potala Palace in Tibet, the Jetavanaramaya temple in Sri Lanka, the Great Pyramid at Giza – top out at or below 400 feet (121 meters).

6. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, completed in 1889, is not considered a skyscraper, but reaches 984 feet (300 meters). This tower’s 300-meter benchmark became the threshold for “supertall” structures.

7. A “megatall” building, a much newer term, is one at least twice the height of the Eiffel Tower.

8. There are now three completed megatall skyscrapers – in Dubai, Shanghai and Tapei – and four more under construction.

Source: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.