The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper that has been intermittently under construction in Shanghai, China.

It is a mixed use skyscraper which will consist of office spaces, hotel rooms, conference rooms, observation decks and shops on the ground floors. It originally began construction in 1997, but work was temporarily interrupted by the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s and later to accommodate design changes by the developer. The 101-story tower was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The skyscraper's roof height has been set at 492 m (1614 feet), which is set to be topped out by September 2007 and on final completion in early 2008 is expected to temporarily make it one of the tallest in the world. Architect William Pedersen and developer Minoru Mori have resisted suggestions to add a spire that would surpass that on Taipei 101 and perhaps the Freedom Tower, calling the Shanghai WFC a "broad-shouldered building".

Upon completion the SWFC will boast a gross floor area of more than 377,300m² and feature 31 elevators and 33 escalators.

The most distinctive feature in the design of the building is an aperture at the top. This aperture was originally meant to be a circular moon gate, but the intended design began facing protests from Chinese, including the mayor of Shanghai, who considered it too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag. Pedersen then suggested that a bridge be placed at the bottom of the aperture to make it less circular. In mid-2005, KPF submitted an alternative design to Mori Building and a trapezoidal hole replaced the circle at the top of the tower, which in addition to changing the controversial design, will also be cheaper and easier to implement according to the architects. An observation deck on the 100th floor is also now part of the final design.

The building of the tower is financed by several multinational firms, including Japanese, Chinese, and Hong Kong banks, as well as by the Japanese developer and as-yet unnamed American and European investors. American investment bank Morgan Stanley is coordinating the financing for Mori Building.

Construction

The foundation stone was laid on August 27, 1997. In the late 1990s the Japanese Mori Building Corporation had a fund shortage caused by the Asian financial crisis, which halted the project after the foundations were completed. On February 13, 2003, the Mori Group increased the building's height to 492 meters (1,614 feet) and 101 stories from the initial plans for a 460-meter (1,509 feet), 94-story building. The new building will use the foundations of the original design. The building construction resumed on November 16, 2005.

As of mid-December 2006, the SWFC has reached a height of over 320 meters (1,050 feet) and adds an additional floor every 3–4 days.