Development Model for Competitive Construction Industry in the People’s Republic of China

This paper identifies and analyzes the open-policy trend of the Chinese construction industry, which is characterized by trade liberalization, the underlying principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Compared to the construction industries in the United States, Japan, and the U.K., the construction industry in China is less developed in its legal framework, industrial structure, technological level, and international market share. To develop a competitive construction industry, the Chinese construction industry needs not only to accommodate appropriate international practice, but also to adapt and adopt it according to the market environment in China. A model to enhance the performance of the Chinese construction industry is proposed. The model consists of six modules: defining government’s role, opening up the construction market and establishing a competitive mechanism, promoting design institutes’ services and empowering professional bodies, encouraging technological innovations, upgrading employees’ educational level, and adopting multiprocurement routes. Recognizing China’s recent accession to the WTO and the attendant boost to its economy and industry development, the paper gives a timely evaluation of the post-WTO Chinese construction industry and proposes a model for its development. The model may serve the needs of academics, Chinese construction policymakers, construction enterprises, design institutes, and foreign contractors.