As the last steel beam was hoisted to the top of the Shanghai Tower, work on the main structure of the world's second tallest skyscraper was completed today.

A crane placed the steel beam, decorated with red ribbons and flags and carried a banner which read "team of hoisting heroes", 580 metres above the ground in Shanghai, China's financial hub, as the building formally overtook Taiwan's 509-metre tall Taipei 101 building to become the highest tower in Asia.

The tower, which costs an estimated $14.8 billion yuan, will reach 632 metres when it is finally finished in 2015.

This spiral skyscraper will be the world's tallest behind Dubai's Burj Khalifa by the

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