Burj Dubai (1), a tower under construction in the United Arab Emirates' trade hub (2), became the tallest building in the world on Saturday, measuring 512.1 metres, its developer said.

"Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004," Emaar Properties, which is developing the Dubai tower, said in a statement.

"Burj Dubai has now reached 141 storeys, more storeys than any other building in the world."

The developer wants the tower, set to be completed next year, to be the world's tallest building according to all four criteria listed by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which measures buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire or flagpole.

Emaar did not say how tall the finished building will be.

Once completed, Burj Dubai will have consumed 330,000 cubic metres of concrete (3), 39,000 tonnes of steel and 142,000 square metres of glass, Emaar said. It will have 56 lifts travelling at 1.75 to 10 metres per second.

The tower will be the centrepiece of a $20 billion development that will include residential, commercial and retail property.

Dubai, the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub, has embarked on a series of mega-projects (4) in recent years, developing three palm-shaped (5) islands off its coast and a cluster of (6) man-made islands shaped like a map of the world.

1. Burj Dubai: 阿拉伯联合酋长国城市迪拜在建的摩天大厦“迪拜塔”２０日达到５１２.１米，成为世界第一高楼。之前的世界第一高楼是台北１０１大厦。“迪拜塔”由韩国三星公司负责修建，是迪拜一系列大型工程之一，预计明年完工。预计这一商业中心将拥有３万个单元间和世界最大购物中心。