RICH YUNG REPORT: China's tallest skyscraper to begin construction

Today, Shanghai is scheduled to officially begin work on what will become its tallest skyscraper — a 2,073-foot building in the city's Lujiazui financial center that will tower over the current highest building, the recently completed 1,614-foot Shanghai World Financial Center.

Meanwhile, the city is doing its part to catalyze growth. A huge subway construction effort blocks many city streets; the waterfront Bund is getting a complete overhaul; and construction of the Expo zone, also along the rusty, neglected banks of the downtown Huangpu River, is going full steam.

"This is a wonderful time for this project to start," said Arthur Gensler, chairman and founder of San Francisco-based Gensler Architecture, Design and Planning Worldwide, which designed the 120-plus floor structure. It is due to be completed in 2014 at a cost of more than $2.2 billion.