Miniature models of skyscrapers in Lujiazui in Shanghai's Pudong New Area [Photo/Pudong Times]

Two of Lujiazui's most iconic skyscrapers, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Jinmao Tower, have been included in a new list of China's most important buildings of the 20th century, Pudong Times reported on Oct 12.

The two landmarks that dominate the skyline in Shanghai's Pudong New Area were among the first batch of buildings to be selected by the panel of judges from the China Cultural Relic Society and the Architectural Society of China, who released the list on Sept 28.

Experts said that the buildings included in the list are witnesses of China's 20th-century history, with the towers in Lujiazui standing as symbols of the rapid development of Pudong, and China more generally, since the country embarked on reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.

Construction on the Oriental Pearl TV Tower began on July 30, 1991, a year after China decided to develop the Pudong area.

The 468-meter-high tower quickly became one of the most famous buildings in China after it was completed in 1994, with one UK architecture magazine comparing it to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Tower Bridge due to its giant size and unique design with its 11 embedded spheres of varying sizes.

Work on the Jinmao Tower began that same year, with the striking, jagged skyscraper opening to the public six years later in 1999. The Jinmao is a hybrid of Chinese and Western architecture and is also a multifunctional building, incorporating 5-star hotels, entertainment facilities and office space, where many Fortune 500 companies continue to be based.

Cao Yongkang, an architecture expert from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, called on people to pay more attention to the protection of modern and contemporary buildings.