Under the EC-China project to support China’s integration into the WTO, we produced a study which covered two main areas for the construction industry and its sub-sectors:
- legal and regulatory
- standards and conformity assessment.
The comparative study was a joint exercise conducted by both EU and Chinese expert teams. Each team reviewed the other’s research and comments on the main differences and opportunities within the European and Chinese construction industries across a range of criteria including:
- definition and scope of the main industry elements and sub-sectors
- roles of government and public entities/associations involved in legislative development and regulations setting, as well as technical issues of standards setting and conformity assessment.
In the context of international norms and standards, domestic standards and WTO compliance, the main legislation and regulations governing the industries were outlined, as well as technical issues of standards setting and conformity assessment. This also outlined the scope of likely future developments.
Against this background, the current challenges that China faces in the reform of its construction sector at the legislative and technical levels, as well as issues of market access and the mechanics for international trade and investment flows, were explored.
