An 18-storey illegal building has been demolished in Guangzhou’s Huadu District, the city’s propaganda department has announced. This is part of a trend that spread across the nation in 2013, in which local authorities emphasised their seriousness about tackling the issue of illegal constructions.

The location of the building, near Guangzhou North Station, clashed with some of the goals of the city’s Urban Planning Bureau. The building had a floor space of 22,917 square metres and had already been put into operation. It was demolished Dec. 28 after an investigation into its legality that began in June 2012.

The demolition in Huadu District, image courtesy of Chinanews

The most high-profile illegal constructions of the past year have included the fake mountain villa in Beijing, the rooftop temple in Shenzhen and the Dongguan “castle in the sky.”