It was the tallest building in China from its completion in 1999 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the nearby Shanghai World Financial Center.

The building is located on a 24,000 m2 (260,000 sq ft) plot of land near the Lujiazui metro station and was built at an estimated cost of US$530 million.

[citation needed] It was designed by the Chicago firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).

Like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the building's proportions revolve around the number 8, associated with prosperity in Chinese culture.

Three sets of 8 two-story high outrigger trusses connect the columns to the core at six of the floors to provide additional support.

The foundations rest on 1,062 high-capacity steel piles driven 83.5 m (274 ft) deep in the ground to compensate for poor upper-strata soil conditions.

The steel shafts have shear joints that act as shock absorbers to cushion the lateral forces imposed by winds and quakes.

The lower 50 floors (in the first 4 segments of the tower) are made up of 123,000 m2 (1,320,000 sq ft) of offices, divided into 5 elevator zones (3-6, 7-17, 18-29, 30-40, and 41-50).

The building's anchor tenant is the five-star 555-room Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel which occupies floors 53 to 87.