China´s Construction Industry Comes Under The Microscope

The construction industry in China has grown side by side with the Chinese economy, and the recent RMB 4 trillion (US$593 billion) government stimulus package has helped to fuel this growth in construction and infrastructure development. However, problems in land acquisition, construction quality, and corruption have hampered China's construction industry and continue to derail the government's efforts to improve and upgrade the industry to meet international standards. In fact, during the last three months, there have been high-profile residential building collapses in Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shijiazhuang, in some cases resulting in loss of life.

Consequently, in August 2009, the Chinese government publicly announced that it would launch a two-year project to address these problems, which the government acknowledged had "harmed the public's basic interest, broken market rules and gone against the goal of building a harmonious society."