Chinese Contractors in the International Market: Business Distribution and Competitive Situation

Abstract

The past decades have witnessed the dramatic development of Chinese International Contractors (CICs) in the global market. With an increasing number of contractors entering into International Construction Project Contracting (ICPC) market, the CICs has been facing fierce competition environment. The business layout and competitive positioning have significant impacts for the CICs to choose and develop the international market. According to the data collected from the Engineering News Record and other cases, the paper analyzes the structure of ICPC market and the diversified development process of the CICs in overseas different regions. From the perspective of enterprise ecology theory, international contractor populations are classified by countries. The “Market Population Concentration Index” is proposed to calculate the concentration of international construction market; the “Niche Width” is defined to describe the utilization of international market resources; and the “Niche Overlap” is introduced to reflect the competitive level among contractors. Assessment methods are proposed to quantitatively analyze enterprises niche status of international contractors. The results find the dynamic changes of the business market structure of the CICs and their competitiveness characteristics compared with those of other countries. The study supports both Chinese and other countries’ contractors to understand the development pattern and competitive structure of the global market, and helps them to select target markets and appropriate strategies for ICPC business.