Thomas Heatherwick has unveiled the Seed Cathedral, the centrepiece of the UK Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo site in Shanghai.
The £25m ($38m) cube-like structure stands 20m tall and will be covered by 60,000 slim transparent acrylic rods.
The UK’s Trade & Investment CEO Sir Andrew Cahn said it was hoped that updating Chinese preconceptions would attract foreign investors and students to Britain, and encourage exports between the two countries.
The World Expo is scheduled to begin later in 2010 and will last six months.