Chinese Firm To Build World’s Third Largest Mosque

Chinese construction companies’ work in Libya may have dried up for now. And Beijing may be wrestling with its restive Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang. But, regardless, China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC), has signed a contract with Algeria to build the world’s third largest mosque.

It will be situated in Mohammadia in the eastern part of the capital, Algiers, sitting on a 20 hectare site overlooking the Mediterranean. Its minaret will be an imposing 300 meters high and the mosque will be able to accommodate 120,000 worshipers. The complex will comprise a dozen buildings including a research library, according to reports. Algeria’s Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdallah Ghlamallah says, “There will be nothing like it in the world–religiously, touristically and economically”.

The city already has three grand mosques, but the most recent was built in the 17th century. Once the new mosque is completed–the target date is August, 2015; at a cost of $1.3 billion–only the al-Haram mosque in Mecca, considered by Muslims to be the most holy place and which can accommodate up to 4 million pilgrims during the Hajj, and the al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, which houses the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad, both in Saudi Arabia, will be larger.

CSCEC, which is China’s largest international general contractor, knows Algeria well. It has been building there for 30 years and has built the country’s five largest hotels. It is also one of four Chinese construction companies the World Bank barred from bidding on projects it finances following an investigation into corruption in the Philippines. CECEC’s ban runs to 2015. However, its latest Algerian contract will do no harm to China’s standing in the Arab world.