CEO of major construction firm applauds SAR's building standards, solutions

A veteran medical facility construction expert believes Hong Kong's experience in engineering management will help the nation's architectural engineering industry further upgrade and go global.

Zhang Yi, CEO of China State Construction International Medical Industry Development Co Ltd, said his company is actively applying these experiences in projects in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

During a series of events in Hong Kong featuring the nation's architectural engineering prowess, Zhang said on Friday that Hong Kong has an advanced system in planning, design and construction of medical projects and its hospital operating system is also internationally leading.

Aspiring to seek greater development, Zhang came to Hong Kong in 2004 and started to engage in Hong Kong's construction industry. Since then, he has participated in various public works, especially medical facility projects, such as Hong Kong Children's Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital.

He recalled that he was very impressed by the advanced infectious disease control design and management at Princess Margaret Hospital when he participated in a project at the facility several years ago. In 2019, he also hired Lily Chiu, former chief executive of the hospital, to serve as operations director of his current company.

Princess Margaret Hospital is Hong Kong's only hospital to have treated SARS patients in 2003. It also set up the city's first infectious disease medical center.

Zhang said China's construction sector has seen rapid development, with many cutting-edge technologies and grand engineering projects. Yet in terms of standards and mechanisms of engineering management, there is still some room for improvement.

For more high-quality development of the industry and deeper collaboration with international partners, there is a practical need to study the management experience of international projects in Hong Kong and other developed economies, he said.

Zhang hopes to promote Hong Kong's advanced engineering management system as much as possible in projects of mainland GBA cities to help construction work in the region innovate and upgrade.

Currently, his company is involved in various ongoing work in the GBA, such as Macao's new hospital in Island District, the internal medicine complex of Shekou People's Hospital in Shenzhen and another anti-pandemic hotel in Shenzhen in case mass quarantines are needed. Zhang said the projects will also learn from Hong Kong's engineering management models.

Established in Hong Kong in 2019, Zhang's company aims to deliver high-end medical, healthcare and rehabilitation projects. The company is a branch of China State Construction Engineering Corp, one of the world's largest construction groups.

So far it has participated in the construction of 20 hospital projects in Hong Kong and Macao, as well as four quarantine centers and a community treatment facility, with a total contract value of about HK$50 billion (41.2 billion yuan).

Last year, the company also participated in two Hong Kong medical facility projects built under the nation's drive to combat the COVID-19 pandemic－the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre and treatment facilities at AsiaWorld-Expo.

China Daily reporter Zhang Yi contributed to this story.