Beijing Construction and Engineering Group (BCEG) has been appointed as main contractor for the £700m Middlewood Locks regeneration project in Manchester.
Middlewood Locks is a 24-acre brownfield site owned by a UK-Chinese development partnership with outline planning consent for a large new mixed-use community. The first phase is expected to comprise the development of 550 homes and 29,000 sq ft of commercial space.
BCEG is also building Manchester Airport City in a joint venture with Carillion, a project it viewed as a stepping stone to further work in the UK.
Last year, its executive director, Lau Yew Cheong, told Global Construction Review that his firm expected to do $300m to $400m worth of work in the UK in the next five years – a total it has already met with today’s news.
The latest announcement coinciding with the visit of Chinese president Xi follows news yesterday that China Building Technique Group (CBTCG) has been awarded the primary contractor role on Croydon’s £500m One Landsdowne Road tower.
Also, Chinese developer ABP has engaged Chinese contractor CITIC Construction for phase one of its £1.7bn Royal Albert Dock development, in conjunction with a yet-to-be-appointed UK-based joint venture partner.
ABP chairman Xu Weiping has already indicated that his plans for the UK stretch way beyond the Albert Dock and that he is looking at opportunities elsewhere including Oxford, Cambridgeshire, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.
The China Harbour Engineering Company is also in line for a key contract in the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.
As well as these contract wins, Chinese developers are investing heavily in UK development projects: Greenland is investing in a £1bn scheme at the old Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, and a 67-storey residential tower at Canary Wharf, while Dalian Wanda is backing the massive Nine Elms development in London’s Vauxhall.
Chinese developer Hualing Group is developing Middlewood Locks and two further north-west projects alongside UK developer Scarborough Group. Thorpe Park in Leeds is a £400m project and the Sheffield Digital Campus is a £40m scheme.
This morning, David Cameron said: “We are committed to rebalancing our economy and building a Northern Powerhouse.
“China is a key trading partner for the UK and the partnerships being made today will see real investment going into the north.
“This is all part of this government’s plan to attract more investment and deliver economic growth to an area of huge potential.”
