China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC), one of the earliest State-owned companies exploring opportunities abroad, is speeding up efforts to expand its overseas market.

As a leading Chinese engineering company, CHEC and its subsidiary companies have captured at least 80 per cent of the domestic harbour construction market, according to statistics from the company.

"Infrastructure construction, as a kind of long-term investment, has its development cycle. In the past decade, China has witnessed a dramatic increase in the construction of port facilities. Thus in the following years, growth in the field is anticipated to reach a plateau in the domestic market," said Hu Jianhua, CEO and president of the company.

Therefore overseas expansion is being given top priority in the company's development blueprint, he added.

Focused on its five core businesses-port facility construction, dredging and reclamation, road and bridge construction, port machinery manufacturing, and surveying and design, CHEC is increasing investment especially in Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa,

According to Hu, CHEC has invested more than US$400 million in railway projects in the regions of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Currently, the company is pursuing a suspension bridge project worth tens of millions of dollars, which will link two shores of the sea and is expected to begin construction in a Southeast-Asian country in the near future.

"We target these regions with huge potential as our main overseas markets, offering comprehensive quality services in a wide range and satisfying various demands from different niche customer groups," Hu said.

Co-operation, as one of CHEC's core values, has benefited the company greatly in facilitating its overseas expansion.

Hu said, "The range of our business partners is broad, from suppliers, distributors, tenderees to competitors, and even extended beyond the port construction industry."

"Frequent co-operation with the world's top companies has provided us with an opportunity to learn from our partners' construction and management expertise, and meanwhile present our own competitive strength, " he added.

Recently, CHEC has joined hands with its partners from Spain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and bid billions of dollars for a South-to-North artery railway project in Saudi Arabia.

In addition, co-operating with two Kuwaiti companies, CHEC is expected to win a more than US$4 million project in Kuwait. It will be the largest Chinese-invested engineering project in the country.

(China Daily 11/03/2006 page19)