The Jiangsu provincial government service center, built by Nantong Si Jian Construction Group, was recently conferred with the Luban Award, China's top construction and engineering award for quality. [Photo/WeChat account: jstzrb]

In 2020, the construction sector in the Tongzhou district of Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province achieved a total output value of 202.9 billion yuan ($31.17 billion), with more than 400,000 people engaged in the sector, according to information released at a recent Tongzhou construction industry development conference.

Construction is a traditional pillar industry of Tongzhou and players in the sector are conscious of its driving influence in the local economy. "We are contributor to and beneficiary of Tongzhou's development," said Qu Qiangjun, president of Nantong Si Jian Construction Group Co Ltd.

After more half a century of development, Nantong Si Jian Construction Group has grown into an enterprise with construction as its core business and engineering design, decoration, engineering inspections and real estate development as its ancillary endeavors.

The construction industry in Tongzhou has continuously maintained the leading position among Jiangsu's counties, county-level cities and districts since the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) – achieving output value during the period of 917.1 billion yuan, for average year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent.

In addition to thriving in the domestic market, Tongzhou's construction companies have also actively engaged in Belt and Road Initiative, expanding vigorously into overseas markets.

The new Haifa Port project in Israel was the first engineering project undertaken by Shanghai International Port (Group) Co Ltd in developed countries, in response to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Contractors Tongzhou Construction General Contracting Group Co Ltd broke ground in 2018.

Currently, nearly 80 percent of the build has been finished and the new port is scheduled to be completed by June and open for trial operation in September.

In 2020, the construction industry in Tongzhou district achieved a total output value of 202.9 billion yuan ($31.17 billion), and created more than 400,000 job opportunities.