Construction of an innovative and controversial US$560 million television center will recommence on May 8 after being delayed by a review process for one and a half years.

The development, spread over 20 hectares, is the largest single real estate project ever built in China. Construction is scheduled for completion in January 2009, according to Tuesday's Beijing Youth Daily.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation won the bid to be general contractor for China Central Television (CCTV) with a tender worth 4.65 billion yuan (US$562 million), the newspaper quoted Beijing construction authorities as saying.

The site is located in a busy commercial area near the World Trade Center in the capital's Central Business District. It includes two main buildings: the CCTV building and the Television Cultural Center.

The CCTV building, designed by Rem Koolhaus, is a uniquely shaped 234-meter high, 52-storey structure. It will form a continuous loop, with two angled towers joined at the top and bottom with L-shaped sections.

(China Daily February 23, 2005)