China auctions skyscraper for $84 million

A Chinese court is auctioning a skyscraper on the country's largest e-commerce website -- with a sky-high starting price of 553 million yuan ($84.2 million).

The 39-floor building in Taiyuan, northern Shanxi province, along with the land on which it sits, goes on the block January 2 on Taobao, Alibaba's e-commerce platform.

Construction on the skyscraper began in 2006. Standing 156 metres high and with over 76,000 square metres of floor space, it was originally designed to be a hotel, state media Xinhua reported Monday.

But the project was suspended due to lack of funding after major construction work was completed in 2010, according to a statement by the Shanxi Provincial Higher People's Court, Xinhua said.

Photos of a dimly-lit underground parking lot and unfinished building interior with dusty floors piled with construction materials were posted by the court on the auction page.