Landmark buildings have risen one after another, "tall, large, difficult and novel" projects have been completed in succession, and construction miracles have astonished the world... Over the 75 years since the founding of New China, China's construction industry has developed rapidly and sustainably, its comprehensive strength has markedly improved, and it has made outstanding contributions to economic and social development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: Made in China, Created in China and Built in China are working together to continue changing the face of China. This is an affirmation of the construction industry, and also embodies expectations for its future high-quality development.

On the new journey of the new era, today's construction industry is marching with firm and resolute steps, steadily advancing from a "major construction country" to a "strong construction country," gathering "Chinese strength," displaying "Chinese style," and contributing "Chinese wisdom" in high-quality development.

Gathering "Chinese Strength"

Shouldering the Mission and Responsibility of the "Pillar"

On September 4, China's self-developed "Linghang" shield tunneling machine, excavating the Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel on the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway, broke through the 1-kilometer mark, reached the bottom of the Yangtze River, and began its journey across the river.

The Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway crosses the Yangtze River in tunnel form. The tunnel has a total length of 14.25 kilometers, of which the shield-tunneled section is 13.25 kilometers long. It is currently the world-class high-speed railway river-crossing tunnel project with the highest construction standards, the longest excavation distance and the largest scale... The enormous difficulty of construction is evident, and the "Linghang" bears a heavy responsibility.

From the point of the shield tunneling machine, we can see the constantly breaking-through surface of "national heavy equipment": more than 20 years ago, domestic shield tunneling machines started from zero. After catching up and running abreast, and then leading in some fields, today's domestic shield tunneling machines already account for nearly 70 percent of the global market.

Not only shield tunneling machines, but also building machines that fly and hover in the air to lay bricks and build walls, and bridge-erecting machines that exert "thousand-catty arm strength"... A batch of "national heavy equipment" with independent intellectual property rights has been launched one after another, demonstrating "hardcore" strength and bearing witness to the path of high-quality development of the construction industry.

Singing and Forging Ahead, the Construction Industry Has Always Strived and Achieved Remarkable Results

From the perspective of contribution rate, value added has grown steadily, with its share of GDP maintained at around 7 percent. Its status as a pillar industry has been consolidated. In 2023, construction enterprises nationwide achieved value added of 8.6 trillion yuan, accounting for 6.8 percent of GDP, and the contribution rate of construction value added to GDP was 8.8 percent.
From the perspective of scale, the industry scale has continued to expand and the number of enterprises has continued to increase. By the end of 2023, the number of construction enterprises nationwide with general contracting or specialized contracting qualifications reached 158,000, achieving leapfrog development of the industry scale.

From the perspective of employment, the role in absorbing employment is significant. By the end of 2023, the number of employees in qualified construction enterprises reached 52.54 million; the total number of migrant workers nationwide was 297.53 million, of whom 15.4 percent were engaged in the construction industry.

Braving Wind and Rain, the Construction Industry Has Become an "Advantageous Industry" and an "Industry Enriching the People"

Cutting roads through mountains and building bridges over rivers, a series of infrastructure projects related to the national economy and people's livelihood have greatly improved travel, communications, education, medical care conditions and living environments for urban and rural residents.
Housing construction capacity has improved. In 2023, the floor space under construction by construction enterprises nationwide was 15.13 billion square meters, and more than 64 million units of various types of affordable housing and shantytown redevelopment resettlement housing have been built and renovated cumulatively. From 2019 to 2023, a total of 220,000 old urban residential communities were newly renovated nationwide.

Construction in the social sector has been vigorously advanced. By the end of 2023, 3,074 regular institutions of higher education and 1.07 million medical and health institutions had been built nationwide, giving the people a fuller, more secure and more sustainable sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.

As time passes, what has changed in the construction field is technology and equipment; what remains unchanged is the original aspiration to provide better services and safeguards. In one major test after another, the construction industry has bravely shouldered the responsibility of a pillar industry, gone all out to serve and improve people's livelihood, and provided solid support for advancing Chinese-style modernization.

Displaying "Chinese Style"

"Super Projects" Highlight Hardcore Strength

The lens turns to the south of the motherland. On the vast Lingdingyang estuary, sea and sky merge in one color, open and spectacular. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, completed and opened to traffic in June this year, together with the already completed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and other sea- and river-crossing links, has opened up new space for the development of cities along the route.

Over seven years, the construction of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link overcame a number of world-class technical challenges, becoming the world's first cross-sea cluster project integrating "bridge, island, tunnel and underwater interchange," and setting 10 "world records": the world's highest navigational clearance sea bridge, the world's largest sea suspension bridge anchorage...

Pulling the lens back, engineering and construction projects in various places are reporting good news: in Xinjiang, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, the world's longest expressway tunnel under construction, is under intensive construction; in Shanghai, the world's largest-diameter vertical shaft boring machine, "Dream," has begun operations in urban deep underground space... Under the guidance of the new development philosophy, the construction technology achievements of a large number of "refined, innovative, green and fast" projects have improved in both quantity and quality, and the reputation of the "Built in China" brand is growing day by day.

Behind high-quality development is inseparable from the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. In particular, in 2017, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Promoting the Sustained and Healthy Development of the Construction Industry, making a top-level design for the reform of the construction industry, building the "Built in China" brand, and giving a clear direction for the transformation and upgrading of the whole industry.

Behind high-quality development is inseparable from the solid efforts and hard work of the housing and urban-rural development system. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the housing and urban-rural development system has vigorously implemented the innovation-driven development strategy, promoted the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry through technological innovation, pushed China's transformation from a "major construction country" to a "strong construction country," and polished the "Built in China" brand.

The whole system has always taken providing high-quality building products to society as its core, optimized the construction market, and promoted the industrialization, digitalization and green transformation of the construction industry. "Building houses like building cars" is becoming a reality. For example, in terms of methods and paths, it has accelerated the integration of a new generation of information technology with the construction industry and vigorously developed new construction methods such as intelligent construction, green construction and prefabricated construction; in terms of systems and mechanisms, it has improved the standard system for construction engineering, focused on reforming basic systems such as engineering supervision, engineering cost and engineering completion acceptance, and improved the construction market and engineering quality and safety supervision systems. In addition, it has cultivated a workforce of industrial workers for the new era, vigorously promoted the spirit of craftsmanship, and trained countless great national craftsmen and skilled artisans.

Behind high-quality development is inseparable from the courageous taking of responsibility by countless builders who "fulfill their mission without fail." With technological innovation time and again and a series of "Chinese works," they have demonstrated the "hardcore" strength of Chinese engineering: high-speed railway projects represented by the "four vertical and four horizontal" main framework, which mark the "speed" and "density" of Chinese engineering; Chinese bridge projects represented by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which mark the "precision" and "span" of Chinese engineering; and venues full of technological sophistication and Chinese style such as the Ice Ribbon and Snow Ruyi of the Winter Olympics, which appeared collectively and let the world witness the technological strength of "Built in China"...

It can be said that the pursuit of excellence is the surging driving force behind the brave advance of "Built in China." From "small and beautiful" projects such as residences, parks and schools to large-scale infrastructure projects that reach into the sky and the sea and cut through mountains and valleys, "Built in China" is infinitely splendid.

Providing "Chinese Solutions"

Contributing "Chinese Wisdom"

The lens pulls back once again. Between the desert and the blue sky stands proudly a city building 385.8 meters tall.

This is the iconic tower of the Central Business District project of Egypt's new administrative capital, known as "Africa's tallest building." In 2018, a group of Chinese builders came to Egypt, striving to open up wasteland in a desert and build a new city within five years. During the project construction period, the Chinese contracting enterprises cooperated with more than 400 local Egyptian enterprises, directly or indirectly driving the employment of more than 50,000 local workers, becoming a model of cooperation between China and Egypt under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since 2013, under the guidance of the Belt and Road Initiative, the construction industry has accelerated its pace of "going global," creating important opportunities. China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 180 countries and international organizations. In 2023, the newly signed contract value of China's foreign contracting business was 1,863.9 billion yuan, and the turnover completed was 1,133.9 billion yuan.

"Going global" development is full of vitality. Construction enterprises have actively expanded overseas business and deeply participated in the construction of major projects in countries and regions along the Belt and Road, successively completing the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, the Stung Treng-Kratie Mekong River Bridge in Cambodia, the Karot Hydropower Station in Pakistan... Chinese enterprises have undertaken projects in 190 countries around the world, and a number of major projects have become landmark projects of these countries.

"Going global" development has achieved "great friendship." The water supply project in Cabinda Province, Angola, built to Chinese standards, has a daily water supply capacity of 50,000 cubic meters and will benefit 600,000 local residents; the Maldives social housing project has improved the living environment for 30,000 people... "Built in China" continues to display vitality, bringing earth-shaking changes to the lives of the people of the countries along the route.

In "going global" development, "soft power" such as "Chinese standards" and "Chinese solutions" is also setting sail overseas. A number of projects adopting Chinese standards have been completed and implemented, breakthroughs have been made in leading the formulation of international standards and undertaking leadership positions in the technical bodies of international standards organizations, and a number of advanced technologies and products are empowering the world...

Practice has fully proved that the construction industry's "going global" contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to world modernization and vividly interprets the broad-mindedness of a responsible major country: "The world is good, and China will be good; China is good, and the world will be better."

Having traversed thousands of mountains and rivers, we still need to climb mountains and wade through waters. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward new requirements for the construction industry: to lead the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries with higher national standards, support enterprises in using digital technology and new green technology to transform and upgrade traditional industries, and provide new opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry.

Firmly grasping the correct direction of reform, the construction industry is going all out to implement all key tasks, advance reform in greater depth with a higher stance and greater intensity, better fulfill new responsibilities and new missions, and make greater contributions to comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.