Construction industry grows amid innovation

Chang Benhong felt thrilled as he stood on a parking apron at the top of the China World Trade Centre (CWTC). He could not help but look back on all the impressive changes he has witnessed over the years.

“In those days, China’s construction industry was far behind the developed world, and even behind some developing countries,” said Chang, one of the construction workers who built the landmark complex located in Beijing’s bustling central business district.

He recalled that when China started seeking bidders for the CWTC construction in 1985, no domestic construction firm qualified for the bidding.

“We didn’t even know how to handle many of those engineering devices foreign workers had brought here then,” Chang said.

Two decades later, when the complex was about to kick off construction of a new tower in 2005, which was once the Chinese capital’s tallest building, all bidders were Chinese.

The decades-long story of CWTC is the epitome of China’s rapidly-growing construction industry.

Official data showed that the total output value of the industry was 26.4 trillion yuan (RM17 trillion) last year, while in 1952 the figure was only 5.7 billion yuan (Rm3bil).

The expansion of the industry also generated job opportunities. The number of employees in the construction sector was less than one million in 1952, and by the end of 2020, the number had reached around 54 million, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development.

Behind such progress were the country’s continuous efforts in technological innovation to transform and upgrade the traditional construction sector.