Chinese tycoon to rebuild London's Crystal Palace

China's real estate group Zhongrong has unveiled plans to rebuild London's famous Crystal Palace Park that was damaged by a fire in 1936, a media report said Friday.

The group announced that it would build a replica of the Crystal Palace, famous for housing the Great Exhibition of 1851, reported the China Daily.

According to the report, the 500-million-pound project would replicate the 900,000 square feet glass halls of the palace and also the 180-acre Crystal Palace Park.

Ni Zhaoxing, chairman of Zhongrong Group, said he wanted to restore the palace into a fine arts exhibition and trading centre.

"We want to restore Crystal Palace to its former glory, and we also want to provide a venue for art collectors from all over the world to showcase and trade their collections," Ni said.

Ni said that some of his private art collections would be displayed there.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "It's incredibly exciting that Mr Ni has come forward with a brilliant, original, and simple vision, to recreate that palace in a 21st century version."

Once known as a symbol of the British empire, the Crystal Palace was originally designed by famous English architect Joseph Paxton and was first erected in London's Hyde Park before it was relocated to southeast London.