The world’s tallest unoccupied skyscraper was meant to boast a rooftop pool and a luxury hotel after completion, but instead it has stood deserted in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for years.

Work on the soaring Goldin Finance 117 began in 2008, but construction stalled as its developer fell into debt and the tower remains unfinished 18 years on.

The 595.5-metre (1,954-foot) skyscraper is emblematic of the years-long crisis that has left Chinese cities dotted with abandoned high-rises and residential towers.

China’s property market was once a key driver of national growth, but has become a stumbling block.

The economy expanded by 4.3 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, its weakest pace in more than three years, according to government data on.

At the foot of the skyscraper, construction workers wearing brightly coloured vests and hard hats took their lunch breaks.

Parts of the eastern side of the building were still exposed, with cranes at the top.