Top 10 Tallest Buildings in China
Let’s take a look at the 10 tallest buildings in China, the country with the most skyscrapers in the world at present. Although the construction of skyscrapers started in the USA, presently China tops the chart. After the economic reform that happened in China in 1978, the county was attracted to the construction of mega infrastructure projects. This willingness to build something huge has been the main motivation for the country and still is.
Currently, there are about 2600 tall buildings or skyscrapers in China that are 150 meters or above high. Even the list of the 10 tallest buildings in the world is also dominated by China. By the way, how the country is getting bigger economically none of the countries in the world certainly stands a chance of ever overcoming China in the near future. As of 2023, the top 10 tallest buildings in China are as follows.
| Position/ Name of the Building | Opened Year | Height | Floor | Location |
| 1. Shanghai Tower | 2015 | 632 m or, 2,073 ft. | 128 (Plus 3 below ground level). | Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. |
| 2. Ping An International Finance Centre | 2017 | 599.1 m or, 1,966 ft. | 120 (Plus 5 below ground level). | Futian District, Shenzhen. |
| 3. Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre | 2016 | 530 m or, 1,739 ft. | 111 (Plus 5 below ground level). | Tianhe District, Guangzhou. |
| 3. Tianjin CTF Finance Centre | 2019 | 530 m or, 1,739 ft. | 97 | Tianjin |
| 4. CITIC Tower/ China Zun | 2018 | 527.7 m or, 1,731 ft. | 109 (Plus 8 below ground level). | Chaoyang District, Beijing. |
| 5. Shanghai World Financial Center | 2008 | 492 m or, 1,614.2 ft. | 101 | Pudong, Shanghai. |
| 6. International Commerce Centre | 2010 | 484 m or, 1,587.9 ft. | 108 (Plus 4 below ground level). | Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. |
| 7. Wuhan Greenland Center | 2022(Estimated completion). | 475.6 m or, 1,560 ft. | 97 (Plus 6 below ground level). | Wuhan. |
| 8. Changsha IFS Tower 1 | 2018 | 452 metres or, 1,482.9 ft | 95 | Furong District, Changsha. |
| 9. Suzhou International Financial Square | 2019 | 450 m or, 1,476 ft | 95 | Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu. |
| 9. Zifeng Tower | 2010 | 450 m or, 1,476 ft | 89 | Nanjing |
| 10. Wuhan Center Tower | 2019 | 438 m or, 1437 ft | 88 | Jianghan District, Wuhan. |
1. Shanghai Tower
The list of the top 10 tallest buildings in China opens with Shanghai Tower on the top spot. It ranks in the third spot on the list of the tallest buildings in the world. Although, it is assumed that the Shanghai Tower will lose its position from 2nd, and it may rank 3rd in the list of tallest buildings in the world after the completion of the Merdeka 118 building this year.
The location of the building is Yincheng Middle Road, Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. The construction of the Shanghai Tower began on 21 November 2008 and was completed in September 2014, but the grand opening of the building was done on 2 February 2015. The building is used for multiple purposes.
The height of the Shanghai Tower is 632 meters or 2073 feet. There are 128 floors above the ground level with 3 floors below the ground level as well. There is an observation deck at a height of 562 m, and it was officially opened for public use on April 26, 2017.
The main architect of the building is Marshall Strabala & Jun Xia. Thornton Tomasetti, Cosentini Associates, I.DEA Ecological Solutions were the engineering organisations of the building. The main contractor of the building was Shanghai Construction Group. The estimated cost of the Shanghai Tower is CN¥ 15.7 billion. The building is owned by Shanghai Tower Construction and Development.
2. Ping An International Finance Centre
The second tallest building in China is Ping An International Finance Centre. It is located in Yitian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It is the tallest building in Shenzhen. The construction of the building started in 2010 and on March 28, 2017, the building construction was fully completed.
The building is solely used for office purposes. Ping An International Finance Centre is 599 meters high and it has also an observation deck which is at a height of 562 meters as same as Shanghai Tower. In the building, there are a total of 120 floors along with 5 more floors below the ground level. The building was designed by the famous architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.
The structural engineer of the building was Thornton Tomasetti. Ping An Life Insurance Company of China are the owner of the building as well as the developer of it. All the construction work of Ping An International Finance Centre was done by China Construction First Building Group. The estimated cost of the building is around US$ 1.5 billion. Read Also: Top 10 Tallest Buildings in Dubai.
3. Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre & Tianjin CTF Finance Centre
Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre is the third tallest building in China. It is also the eighth tallest building in the world. The building is located in Zhujiang East Road, Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is also known as Guangzhou Twin Tower 2 or East Tower. On September 29, 2009, the construction of the building was started and the construction finished in October 2016.
The height of the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre is 530 meters or 1739 ft. In the building, there are 111 floors above the ground with a further five below the ground level. The building is used as a multi-purpose building. The building has an underground shopping mall which is connected by public transportation. The building has a massive floor area of around 507,681.0 m2.
Kohn Pedersen Fox is the architecture firm that has designed the building. New World Development and Arup Group are the developers and the structural engineer of the building respectively. However, the main contractor of the building is China State Construction Engineering. In the building, there are 355 apartments and 251 hotel rooms.
The Tianjin CTF Finance Centre is also the third tallest building in China according to the height. It is located in Binhai New Area, Tianjin, China. It is also a multi-purpose building. The construction of the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre started on November 20, 2009, and was completed almost after a decade in 2019.
The height of the building is 530 meters same as that of Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre. There are 97 floors in total in the building which makes it the tallest building with less than 100 floors. The architecture firm which is responsible for the design of Tianjin CTF Finance Centre is Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in collaboration with Ronald Lu & Partners.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and New World Development are the structural engineers and the developer of the building respectively. China Construction 8th Engineering Division is the company that was the main contractor of the building. The tower is owned by Tianjin New World Huan Bo Hai Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. In the building, there are a total of 266 apartments and 365 hotel rooms as well.
4. CITIC Tower/ China Zun
CITIC Tower ranks 4th in the list of the top 10 tallest buildings in China. Also, known as China Zun it is the tallest building in China’s capital Beijing. The building is constructed in modern style and is located in Guanghua Road, Beijing CBD, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. The construction work of the building started on 19 September 2011, and in 2018, it was fully completed.
CITIC Tower is 527.7 meters tall with a total of 109 floors with further 8 floors below the ground. It is a multi-purpose building and there are about 300 hotel rooms and 20 floors which are luxury apartments. TFP Farrells, KPF and BIAD are the three different architectural firms that were responsible for the design of the building. The developer of this building was the CITIC Real Estate. Arup Group is the one who was the structural engineer of the company.
5. Shanghai World Financial Center
The fifth place in the list of the top 10 tallest buildings in China is taken by Shanghai World Financial Center. It is a multi-purpose building as we can find a hotel, office, museum, observation deck, and retail all in the same building. The Shanghai World Financial Center is located on Century Avenue, Pudong, Shanghai, China.
The construction of the building started way back on 27 August 1997 and was completed in 2008. The height of the building is 492 meters or 1614 feet. Back in 2008, after the construction of the building was completed, it was regarded as an engineering marvel because of the building’s unique structure. There are a total of 101 floors with 3 floors below the ground level. The observation deck of the building is located at a height of 474 meters.
Kohn Pedersen Fox was the architect behind the design of the Shanghai World Financial Center. Mori Building Co. was the developer of the building and the structural engineer of the building was Leslie E. Robertson. The main contractors of the building were China State Construction Engineering Corp and Shanghai Construction General Co. The estimated cost of the building is US$ 1.20 billion and it is owned by Shanghai World Financial Center Co., Limited.
6. International Commerce Centre
International Commerce Centre is the 6th tallest building in China. It is a commercial building with offices and hotels in it. The building is located in Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The construction work on the building was started in the year 2002 and was completed in 2010. The height of the building is 484 meters and there are 108 total floors. The observation deck of the building is located at a height of 387.8 meters.
Three architecture firms Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Belt Collins & Associates, and Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd. worked on the design of the International Commerce Centre. Sun Hung Kai Properties were the developer of the building. The structural engineer was the Arup Group. Meanwhile, the main contractor of the building was Sanfield Building Contractors Limited.
7. Wuhan Greenland Center
Wuhan Greenland Center ranks in the seventh spot in the list of the top 10 tallest buildings in China. It is also known as Greenland Center. The building is used for hotels, service apartments and offices. Wuhan Greenland Center is located in Linjiang Avenue, Wuhan, Hubei, China. The construction of the building began on 28 June 2012 and was completed in 2022. The building is 475.6 m or, 1,560 feet tall and there are a total of 97 floors with 6 more floors below the ground level.
The architecture firm Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture were behind the design of the building which is a modern style. The Greenland Group are the developer of the building. Meanwhile, the structural engineer of the building was Thornton Tomasetti. China State Construction Engineering and Greenland Group were the main contractors for the building. The building is owned by Wuhan Greenland Bin Jiang Property and its estimated cost is US$ 4.5 billion.
8. Changsha IFS Tower 1
The building that comes in the 8th position in the list of the top 10 tallest buildings in China is Changsha IFS Tower 1. It is also known as the Hunan Province Twin Towers. The building is with another building making it a twin-tower complex. Changsha IFS Tower 1 is located in Furong District, Changsha, Hunan, China. The construction work of the building started in 2013 and within five years in 2018, the building was completed. The building stands at 452 meters above ground level with a total of 95 floors.
The architecture firm behind the design of the Changsha IFS Tower 1 was Wong & Tung International Limited. The structural engineer of the building was East China Architecture Design & Research Institute. The main contractor of the building was China Construction Second Engineering Bureau Limited. The other tower of the complex stands at a height of 315 meters. The Changsha IFS Tower 1 is owned by The Wharf(Holdings).
9. Suzhou International Financial Square
Suzhou International Financial Square is the ninth tallest building in China. It is located in Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu, China and gives a clear view of Jinji Lake. The construction of Suzhou International Financial Square started in 2012 and was completed on December 30, 2012, and was completed in 2019. The height of the building is 450 meters above the ground with a total of 95 floors in the building.
The building is a multi-purpose one as one will find hotels, apartments and offices in it. Wong & Tung International Limited and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates are the architecture firms that have designed the building. The development of the building is done by Suzhou Gao Long Property Development Co., Limited. The owner of Suzhou International Financial Square is The Wharf (Holdings).
10. Wuhan Center Tower
The Wuhan Center Tower takes the final spot on the list. The building is located in Wang Jiayun CBD, Jianghan District, Wuhan, Hubei, China. The construction work of the building started on December 10 2011 and was finally completed in 2019. The height of the building is 438 meters with a total of 88 floors. The building is used as a multi-purpose building.
The major architecture firm of the building is East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI). The structural engineering and the main contractor of the building are East China Architectural Design & Research Institute and China State construction engineering respectively. Oceanwide Holdings is the developer and the owner of the building. This is the first building in Wuhan which is more than 400 meters high.
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