Elaine Kurtenbach, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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SHANGHAI, China - China's tallest building, the 101-storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, is scheduled to open to the public on Saturday.

The opening comes 14 years after its developer, Japanese property tycoon Minoru Mori, acquired the site in 1994. He began piling work in 1997, just as the Asian financial crisis hit, and the land sat idle until 2003.

The 492-metre-high building was once expected to become the world's tallest, but several others have since overtaken that mark.

The current world leader is the Burj Dubai.

Although still under construction, it already stands at 550 metres. It's final height remains a closely guarded secret.

Although the Shanghai building is no longer the world's tallest, Mori notes that the skyscraper's top-floor observation deck remains the world's highest.

He says it will give visitors a sweeping panorama of Shanghai and a dizzying view to ground level through transparent patches of flooring.