SHANGHAI, Nov. 29 -- Construction on China's tallest building, the 2,000-foot-tall Shanghai Center, got underway Saturday, officials said.

The project, when finished in 2014, will surpass Shanghai's two most well-known skyscrapers: the 1,380-foot-tall Jin Mao Tower completed in 1999, and the 1,615-foot-tall Shanghai World Financial Center, which was finished in August, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Costing more than $2.2 billion, the Shanghai Center Construction and Development Co. Ltd., the building's developer, said it is going up despite the global economic crisis gripping the world's economies.

"The Shanghai Center is expected to increase domestic demand and economic growth amid the worldwide financial crisis," Kong Qingwei, Shanghai Center's board chairman, told Xinhua.

Designed by the U. S. firm Gensler, the building will twist as it rises and will be surrounded by an outer glass wall. It will also feature nine gardens between the main building and the wall, and will include a public park, the news agency said. (UPI)