Shanghai World Financial Center

The reform and opening up of Pudong, Shanghai was declared in 1990 and since then the creation of a completely new city has begun in the Pudong area, which is on the other side of the river from the Puxi area, Shanghai’s traditional city center. Mori Building began to consider the possibility of expanding its business to Shanghai for the first time in 1993 and we paid close attention to the development plan for the Pudong area. We planned to construct an office building that would meet the needs of the new financial center there. 
President Minoru Mori (then executive managing director) visited China for the first time in 1992. Shanghai had more vitality than Beijing and the whole city was full of excitement. It was full of lively energy attempting to achieve economic development in places where there was nothing. 

Mori began construction of his first project in Shanghai in 1995, the Shanghai Mori International Tower (now Hang Seng Bank Tower), and construction was completed in 1998. The tenants were primarily Japanese financial institutions and trading companies, but a large number of European and American financial institutions also moved in. In particular the HSBC Group (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Group), the top international financial institution in Shanghai, established its head office in China here and as a result its name became widely known among not only Japanese companies but also European and American companies. 
Meanwhile, with regard to the Shanghai World Financial Center, construction initially began in 1997, but due to the Asian economic crisis which occurred at that time, construction was suspended at the point where the work on the underground piles was completed. Subsequently the design was revised to meet the latest specifications demanded by international financial institutions and in 2003 construction resumed. The company has utilized its development and management know-how to create the Shanghai World Financial Center.