Charles Rich, owner, Charles Rich Construction Consultants
I expect to see a few contractors here in about 10 years, and if they come they will initially focus on infrastructure projects because the Chinese are used to working on highly integrated projects and could find it difficult to understand the fragmented nature of the UK construction industry and the relationships that have to be built. It’s likely that Chinese funding will drive this, as was the case in Africa. They will probably enter in one of two ways: either by buying out a UK contractor, or by entering as a Chinese developer and bringing in their own contractor.
Chris Twinn, director and sustainability consultant, Arup
I don’t think so. The Chinese contracting industry is still relatively immature and a long way short of our minimum expectations on quality and long-term value. When they build an office block, for example, they don’t consider if it is low energy to run, or what it will look like in several years, which is why you see a lot of high rises that look around 20 years old but are actually less than five.
The economic boom means China’s property prices are rising fast and if the average property can gain an owner 15% a year over two years, they have made enough profit to flog it purely based on inflation, not on yield or the value the building can deliver.
We’re beginning to see that the Chinese realise they need to be more sophisticated than this in the long term and adopt a more modest growth rate with less inflationary components. As a result, Chinese building professionals are interested in learning the finance, contracting and management skills needed to deliver more reasonably costed, predictable projects.
Mark Budden, regional lead for China, EC Harris
Yes, contractors will be strongly steered by the government in terms of what projects to go for, but infrastructure projects will be the ones they probe first. Investment in projects will be the entry strategy, which worked for them in Africa and South America.
The UK’s legal framework may pose a problem as it is totally different to China and other international locations they have worked in, perhaps apart from Hong Kong and Malaysia. Success could come through a joint venture or an acquisition, or they may prefer to take a stake in a British firm; but how this would work on both sides could be a challenge.
Escode Yuen, managing director, Davis Langdon KPK in China
Whatever happens will depend on what the Chinese central government wants. China is not a market economy and the government decides where to invest its resources. All Chinese contractors are state-run and heavily influenced by government. Where they go isn’t always driven by commercial priorities, but also cultural and political needs.
Chinese contractors typically have a team comprising investment, development and contracting arms which operate together, so I envisage organisations first making some investments in the UK, buying some assets and then bringing in their home contractor. However, there is a danger that China’s economic and political stability will be undermined within 10 years if they can’t bridge the divide between rich and poor.
Asgar Chouglay MCIOB, project manager and facade engineer, Skanska
It’s definitely likely given that Chinese specialist contractors are already making strides into Europe. I’ve been working with cladding giant Yuanda, which supplied all the facade systems for the £100m Brent Civic Centre in Wembley, London (see feature, page 30).
Yuanda recently established a European design office in Basel, Switzerland, which gave it the credibility to persuade our architect Hopkins to use it on the job. Yuanda designed the project in Basel, then once drawings were approved, it subcontracted the detailed design drawings to Yuanda China, which had the cladding manufactured in a factory in Shenyang, Northeast China.
The Chinese will have to address some quality-related issues. Their home market is labour intensive, because manual labour is cheap compared with using machines for assembly and checking etc, as we do in Europe. European EN standards are a lot more stringent too.
