Port and Waterway Standards to Help Chinese Industries Go Global

An English version of the Chinese standards for port and waterway design and construction that was unveiled on November 8, is expected to help related Chinese industries go global, the head of a Chinese construction company which is the largest international contractor in Asia, said recently.

The China Communications Construction Co (CCCC) has spent 6 million yuan ($944,800) on the translation project, explained Liu Qitao, its CEO.

CCCC is one of the world’s top 500 firms and has undertaken projects in more than 100 countries and regions and “urgently needs” to make Chinese standards “go global“, Liu said.

The English translation was arranged by China’s Ministry of Transport with support from the Export-Import Bank of China.

Other foreign language versions of the standards, and of other aspects of port and waterway projects, or road projects, will be published in the future.

In most cases, for these projects, Western standards apply.

CCCC has handled more than 90 percent of China’s port and navigation channel work in coastal areas, over the past 60 years, and has helped set up more than 80 percent of the standards for the industry.

The more Chinese standards go global the more it will help related industries on the chain in expanding overseas, Liu added.

International competition in this sector resides mostly in technical standards, now, explained Song Hailiang, chief of the design institute of CCCC.

“At the upper end of the market, standards are everything,” Liu said.

Chinese companies have remained at the lower end of overseas markets but have managed to move up along the value chain over the past decade.

The China Harbour Engineering Co, for example, a CCCC subsidiary, is engaged in fund raising, design, construction, and equipment installation on a port project at Hambantota, in Sri Lanka.

Liu said he has confidence in the “go global” move since Chinese standards have become more advanced.

 “We’ve built the world’s longest bridge, the largest port, the deepest navigation channel, and expressways, all to the highest standards.

 “Among the world’s top 20 bridges in terms of the span, 80 percent of the cable-stayed bridges, 50 percent of the arch bridges and 50 percent of the suspension bridges were built by CCCC.”

The mainland has 12 of the world’s top-20 ports, and nine of the world’s top-20 container ports.

CCCC is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange, and has also become the largest dredging company in the world with more than 70 percent share of the world’s quayside crane market.

CCCC will increase its overseas investment, Liu said. It is currently involved in more than 400 projects abroad, with contracts worth $29 billion.

By Li Wenfang (chinadaily)

[mappress]

Source: chinadaily, November 22, 2011; Image: ccccltd