Enlarge _ Related Links: Mr. Xi's Grand Silk Road Plan Leaves the Starting Gate China Inks Silk Road Deals With Brazil, Russia and India The China Construction Industry Association, which represents the country's construction and engineering companies, is touting Xi Jinping's ambitious Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road international infrastructure programs, which the government calls the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.The CCIA replied to ENR's questions through email.ENR: Centuries ago traders established the Silk Road to move Chinese goods to the rest of the world. Please tells us about the new Silk Road.CCIA: The One Belt, One Road program is
Photo Courtesy Pakistan Press Information Department Chinese President Xi (left) met Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif in Islamabad to sign pacts covering $46 billion worth of infrastructure work. Enlarge Click to enlarge. Back in October 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled his grand plan to construct a commercial empire by creating dozens of linked infrastructure projects across 20-odd countries, politicians and construction companies the world over responded with minimal enthusiasm.But by the end of April, the first part of the monumentally ambitious Silk Road program was underway, with Xi and his officials inking agreements on nearly a dozen infrastructure projects
Related Links: China To Build First New U.K. Nuke Plants in More Than 20 Years China has lifted the ban on constructing new nuclear powerplants as part of an ambitious plan to add 30,000 MW of nuclear energy by 2020, which will bring it closer to U.S. production capability. After the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, China banned capacity expansion as the country closely examined its safety standards in existing plans.The government plans to take the number of nuclear powerplants to 75 from 22 at present in about five years. There are 26 reactors under construction, and 27 more
Related Links: Suspended Sri Lankan Port Project Complicates Sirisena's Trip to China China and India Vie For Work in Surrounding Nations Flying into Beijing, Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena seemed to hold the key to an important part of China’s latest dream, the so-called Silk Road plan. China desperately wanted him to lift a suspension order that his government recently clamped on a $1.4-billion port-city project in Colombo, Sri Lanka's largest city.The project is being financed and constructed by Chinese companies because it would give China access to the Indian Ocean, which is one end of the Silk Road project's
Photo Courtesy of Terex/Genie Aerial work platforms are expected to grow in China as contractors look for safer working methods at height. Related Links: Rentals Rising in China Overturns and Falls Lead Aerial-Work-Platform Deaths China rang in the New Year with five deadly construction related accidents that left 26 people dead and more than 50 injured. Curiously, the Chinese government last year began tightening laws and implementation systems to reduce accidental deaths in construction sites.The recent accidents included a tunnel collapse, a foundation cave-in, a roof collapse and two cases of scaffolding breaking down.A worried government issued orders on January
Image Courtesy of InterBering LLC The Moscow-Beijing high-speed rail line may one day connect to a possible tunnel under the Bering Strait to North America. Related Links: Dream Projects: Bering Strait Tunnel China has bagged a Russian contract to build a high-speed railway that would connect Moscow to Beijing in just 48 hours. This is part of a more grandiose plan to connect China with the United States and Canada by creating a tunnel in the Pacific."If the funds are raised smoothly … the line can be completed in five years at the quickest," Wang Meng-shu, a tunnel and railway
Human-rights groups express concerns over conditions for migrant workers for a planned $27-billion museum and resort complex in Saadiyat, United Arab Emirates. Related Links: Sepp: FIFA 'Not Responsible' for Welfare of Migrant Workers in Qatar UN investigates claims of Gulf state abuse of migrant workers Productivity and safety on construction sites in Asian and Middle Eastern countries that depend on migrant labor have long been issues, but they now also have come under more scrutiny from the United Nations and human rights groups that complain about large scale mistreatment of workers. But Singapore is setting a higher standard by actually
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton/ENR DeFeo sees near-term expansion opportunities in India. Related Links: At Bauma China, Soggy Times for Machinery Under the longtime direction of Ron DeFeo, Terex Corp. has recently refocused product lines to curtail exposure to general equipment markets while increasing its global footprint in higher-end machinery, such as cranes, aerial work platforms and port equipment. Expecting Terex to achieve annual revenue of $7.3 billion to $7.5 billion this year, DeFeo spoke with ENR over the phone shortly after last month’s Bauma China exhibition wrapped up.ENR: What are the business prospects of Terex in the next two
Photo courtesy of Bauma China Soft global markets cast a pallor over the biennial Bauma China equipment exhibition last month. Related Links: Chinese Producers Hope 2015 Brings Better Times Machine Producers Suffer From Excess Inventory Faced with another year of flat global growth in 2015, executives in the construction-equipment business can barely hide their frustration."The U.S. market should be in a strong recovery," says Ron DeFeo, chairman of Terex Corp. "But because there is lack of confidence in the vision on infrastructure, we are still somewhat slow to recover." He did not see much business coming from reconstruction in war-
Photo by Saibal Dasgupta/ENR Su ZiMeng is Secretary General of the China Construction Machinery Association. ENR caught up with him last month at Bauma China. Related Links: At Bauma China, Machine Producers Suffer From Excess Inventory Where East Meets West, China's Uphill Battle Su ZiMeng, Secretary General of the China Construction Machinery Association, represents member companies that form a large part of China’s estimated $1 trillion manufacturing industry, arguably account for half of the world’s heavy-equipment production and include 11 of the world’s top 50 equipment makers. The bulk of business comes from government-financed projects, though export revenue is growing.