Construction of a 610-meter TV tower, expected to be the world's highest, started recently in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province.

The TV tower, with a 450-meter tower and a 160-meter mast, will be finished in 2009 at a total cost of 2.2 billion yuan (US$27.2 million).

The TV tower will be used to broadcast the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou in 2010, said the Guangzhou government.

    Sponsors of the TV tower, the Guangzhou-based Construction and Investment Development Co., Ltd and the Guangzhou TV Station, selected a design from the United Kingdom among 13 entries from home and abroad.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2005)