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China’s Construction Industry

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Lean Construction Management

Abstract

China has demonstrated an astonishing economic growth capability to the world. Since the introduction of the open door policy, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has amounted to over 8% annually in recent years (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2011). This economic success cannot be achieved without contributions from infrastructural and urban development, or without rapid growth in the construction industry. According to National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC 2011), the construction industry in China has accounted for approximately 6% of GDP since 2006. Employment in the construction industry also accounted for about 7% of the total permanent employment in the urban areas of China. A characteristic of China’s construction industry is the large share of labour-only subcontracting, often on the basis of individual self-employed labourers from rural areas of China. As NBSC (2011) noted, by the end of 2010, there were 71,863 registered firms employing 41.6 million people in the construction industry, excluding the labour subcontractors. This created a total output of 9603.1 billion RMB (approximately US$1538.6 billion). Statistically, these figures clearly indicate the leading position of the construction industry and its enormous achievements. However, its performance over the past several years still suggests that the industry faces serious difficulties.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Deputy Director of the Chinese Construction Association.

  2. 2.

    Qiu Baoxing is Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The quotation was part of his speech delivered at the 6th International Green Building and Energy Conservation General Assembly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture and the Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, Australia (Singapore campus), Singapore, Singapore

    Shang Gao

  2. Department of Building, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Sui Pheng Low

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  1. Shang Gao
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Gao, S., Low, S.P. (2014). China’s Construction Industry. In: Lean Construction Management. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-014-8_6

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