How dare you be higher (or longer) than me?

I used to word in a state-owned enterprise in China. It's office building is very luxury inside and outside. But always felt that the main building looked assort with the affiliated building. Such feeling puzzled me for a long time until one day one of my colleague told me the truth.
When the company's office building is under construction, not far away from it, another office building belonged to the city government is under construction too. The designed floor height of the company's office building is 21 and 17 for the government's. It was said that the government ordered the company to reduce the height. The reason is simple: actually the office building is 4 floors than it supposed to be.
Amazing? But I thing such things really could happen in China and maybe happening everyday and everywhere especially the company is stated-owned.
Why the company's office building could not higher than the government's?The male monkeys flaunt their penises to attracted female and threaten other male. Although civilized mankind could not be so barbaric, they build skyscraper instead.
For the building is a signal here, we can understand why the government gave such an order to some extent. How dare you be higher (or longer) than Chinese government? They are the NO.1 in the world even they are brute and only brute in the world.
The only problem now puzzled me is: do such things happen abroad?