CITIC Tower is a supertall skyscraper in the Central Business District of Beijing. It is popularly known as China Zun. The 109-storey, building is the tallest in the city, surpassing that of the China World Trade Center Tower III by 190 metres. On August 18, 2016, CITIC Tower surpassed China World Trade Center Tower III in height, becoming Beijing's tallest building. The tower structurally topped out on July 9, 2017, fully topped out on August 18, 2017, and was completed in late 2018 making CITIC Tower the tallest completed building of 2018. The nickname China Zun comes from the zun, an ancient Chinese wine vessel which inspired the building design, according to the developers, the CITIC Group. The groundbreaking ceremony of the building took place in Beijing on September 19, 2011 and the constructors expect to finish the project within five years. CITIC Tower is Northern China's third tallest building after Goldin Finance 117 and Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center in Tianjin. Farrells produced the tower's land bid concept design, with Kohn Pedersen Fox assuming the project and completing a 14-month-long concept design process after the client had won the bid. China Zun Tower is a mixed-use building, featuring 60 floors of office space, 20 floors of luxury apartments and 20 floors of hotel with 300 rooms, there will be a rooftop garden on the top floor at 524m high. The tower is likely to remain the tallest building in Beijing for the foreseeable future, as in 2018 authorities capped new projects in the central business district to a height of no more than 180 meters in a bid to reduce congestion.
Controversy
In April 2018, Hong Kong newspaperMing Pao reported that China Zun's top three floors, Levels 106-107 and an observatory on level 108, is to be expropriated by the national-security apparatus, since the entire Zhongnanhai complex, the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of the People's Republic of China, could be seen from the top of the skyscraperwith the naked eyeon a clear day. It is also said that with high-end telescopes and other monitoring equipment, the day-to-day lives and activities of the Party and State Leaders could be seen. The building is ordered rectification for "fire safety issues" by the authorities, but the CITIC Group is unable to reveal the specific reason for rectification. It is also said the top three floors of the building will be administered by the National Security authorities after rectification.
