The common building of Haimen Middle School is built by Tongzhou Construction General Contracting Group Co. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

Three projects constructed by companies in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, won the 2022-23 China Construction Engineering Luban Award, the most prestigious construction award in China, according to the recent award ceremony held in Beijing.

The three prize winners are the common building of Haimen Middle School by Tongzhou Construction General Contracting Group Co, phase one of the Guiqian International General Hospital by Jiangsu Suzhong Construction Group Co, and the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Service Trade Innovation Development Building by Nantong Sijian Construction Group Co.

Construction has always been Nantong's pillar and competitive industry, noted Wang Kailiang, head of the municipal bureau of housing and urban-rural development.

Since the city won the first Luban Award in Jiangsu in 1988, Nantong has been the award ceremony's frequent caller with Sijian Construction carrying home 33 Luban Awards, ranking first in the province.

The total output value of the city's construction industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($141.12 billion) in 2021 and amounted to over 1.14 trillion yuan last year, accounting for more than one fourth of the provincial total.

Nantong today is home to more than 5,000 construction companies with six listed among the world's top 250 international contractors and seven on the list of Chinese top 500 companies.

Over the past decade, Nantong constructors have built a group of landmark buildings, including the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building.

Wu Xinming, Party secretary of Nantong, noted that by 2025, the output value of the construction industry in the city is expected to reach 1.3 trillion yuan and the added value is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan.