The United States broke ground Tuesday for a new US Embassy compound in Beijing, the Chinese capital, billed by the American government as the largest State Department project ever built on foreign soil.

US Ambassador Clark T. Randt Jr., Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong and several Chinese officials were on hand for the ceremony in eastern Beijing. Each held a shovel and dug up a clod of earth at the same time.

The US Embassy in China opened its doors in 1979 after the United States, under then-President Jimmy Carter, established relations with China after 30 years of suspicion and even outright hostility.

The embassy currently has offices in 11 different locations spread across the vast Chinese capital, and the new four-hectare (10-acre) complex will allow all operations to be consolidated. The office space will be enough for 700 Americans and local staff.

Some 1,500 local workers are helping to build the 2.3 billion yuan (US$275 million) complex, which is scheduled for completion before the 2008 Olympics.

(China Daily February 11, 2004)