Residential buildings in Israel built by Longxin Group. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Reputed as the hometown of the Chinese construction industry, Jiangsu province's Nantong city is currently home to over 5,000 construction enterprises, with six on the list of the world's top 250 contractors.

With China opening wider to the world and the Belt and Road Initiative progressing smoothly, increasingly more Nantong builders have gone abroad, leaving profound impressions with landmark buildings throughout the world.

Nantong Construction Group Co was the first local construction enterprise to start building a presence in overseas market, according to the company's president, Zhang Xiangyang.

Zhang noted that as early as 1983, the company organized a special team dedicated to working in the international market. The team's efforts began in labor service supply, later expanding to project sublets and general contract projects.

Now, the company has gained a firm foothold in the global market, holding branches in 11 countries, offering jobs to over 2,000 locals in Africa, and donating money to build hospitals and kindergartens.

Nantong builders have established more than 50 institutions abroad and constructed buildings in over 90 countries. In 2023 alone, they added 64 overseas construction projects and secured foreign contracting projects valued at nearly $2.3 billion, up 130 percent year-on-year, said Chen Wei from local municipal commerce bureau.

Since the 1980s, Nantong construction enterprises have generated over $30 billion in turnover and won the Luban Award, one of the most prestigious bridge construction awards in China, in the overseas projects category three times.