In 2018, the guiding principle for the work of the Construction Market Supervision Department was to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide, and carry out the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Sustainable and Healthy Development of the Construction Industry." We will adhere to the principles of quality first and efficiency priority, aim at addressing the imbalances and inadequacies in the development of the construction industry, take deepening supply-side structural reform in the construction sector as the main line, focus on enhancing the safety and quality standards of construction projects, prioritize the improvement of the regulatory system and mechanisms for the construction market, optimize the business environment for enterprises, promote the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry, and fully implement the tasks and arrangements set forth at the National Conference on Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
I. Promote supply-side structural reform in the construction industry
(1) Deepen the reform of the engineering bidding and tendering system. Continue to encourage private investment in housing construction projects to allow project owners to independently decide on the contracting method. Further explore the practice of awarding contracts based on the lowest bid, provided that performance bonds are submitted, for government-invested projects that adopt conventional and widely accepted technical standards. Study and draft opinions aimed at further strengthening the supervision of bidding and tendering for housing construction and municipal infrastructure projects. Accelerate the implementation of electronic bidding and online remote bid evaluation. Enhance post-approval and ongoing supervision following the removal of qualification requirements for engineering bidding agencies. Promote systems for information reporting and public disclosure, refine the management of engineering bidding agencies, and actively support the revision of relevant laws and regulations such as the Bidding and Tendering Law.
(2) Promote transformation in the organizational approach to engineering construction. Advance the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) model, issue management measures for EPC projects in housing construction and municipal infrastructure, improve the EPC management system, continue revising the standard EPC contract templates, study and develop model subcontracting contracts for EPC design, procurement, and construction, refine EPC contract management, issue guidelines on promoting full-process engineering consulting services, formulate technical standards and standard contract templates for full-process engineering consulting services, actively foster enterprises specializing in full-process engineering consulting, issue guidelines on further promoting the architect-in-charge system, study and develop model project contracts under the architect-in-charge system, and continue piloting the architect-in-charge system in civil construction projects.
(3) Cultivate a modern workforce for the construction industry. Improve the mechanisms for training, employing, and managing construction workers; guide and support large-scale construction enterprises in partnering with provinces that are major exporters of construction labor to establish labor service bases. Build a stable workforce anchored in these labor service bases, and develop a new employment system characterized by a core workforce composed of employees directly hired by general contractors and a main body of workers employed by specialized subcontracting firms. Issue guidelines for cultivating a modern workforce for the construction industry, advance reforms in the construction labor employment system, vigorously develop specialized subcontracting enterprises, establish a nationwide information platform for construction worker management and services, formulate regulations for implementing the real-name management system for construction labor employment, accelerate the adoption of the real-name management system for construction labor employment, and clearly define the minimum staffing standards for skilled workers at construction sites.
II. Improve the regulatory system and mechanisms for the construction market.
(4) Optimize the business environment for enterprises. Continue to promote the establishment of a unified, open, and fair competition-oriented construction market environment. Conduct inspections and supervision on regional barriers that enterprises have strongly complained about, and strictly investigate and punish any practices involving discriminatory restrictions or hidden obstacles. Simplify the management of construction permits, advance the “Internet + Government Services” initiative, and further reduce the processing time for construction permits. Continuously carry out efforts to clear up and standardize security deposits in the field of engineering construction, and issue guiding opinions to further promote the implementation of engineering guarantees, with a particular focus on bank guarantees and guarantee insurance, thereby promoting performance bonds and payment guarantees for project funds.
(5) Promote the development of a creditworthiness system. Improve the National Construction Market Regulatory Public Service Platform, revise and issue data standards for the foundational database of the National Construction Market Regulatory and Credit Information System, enhance the quality of platform data, increase the intensity of information disclosure, refine mechanisms for collecting, reporting, and publicly releasing credit information, and implement a blacklist system for construction market entities. Study the establishment of a joint punishment mechanism for dishonesty in the construction market, sign memoranda on joint punishment, and intensify the力度 of joint punishment.
(6) Strengthen the regulation of the construction market. Continue to intensify efforts to investigate and punish illegal and non-compliant activities such as falsifying qualification applications, causing quality and safety accidents, and illegally subcontracting or transferring construction projects. Relying on the National Construction Market Regulatory Public Service Platform, enhance dynamic supervision of enterprise qualifications, conduct timely dynamic inspections to verify whether enterprises continue to meet qualification standards after obtaining their licenses, and strengthen market exit management.
III. Deepen the reform of the administrative approval system
(7) Simplify enterprise qualification management. Revise the regulations and qualification standards for construction, surveying & design, and supervision enterprises, continue to streamline market access requirements, reduce the number of specialized categories, and promote a moderate separation between qualification standards and requirements for the number of registered practitioners. Launch pilot programs to reform qualification standards for construction enterprises, further consolidate certain specialized contracting qualifications, and reduce the number of qualification levels. Study the removal of restrictions on foreign investment access in the fields of engineering design and construction services, and implement a pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management model for foreign-invested engineering design and construction service enterprises.
(8) Improve the management system for individual professional qualifications. Study and adjust the overall framework and implementation plan of the survey and design engineer system, optimize the division of specialties, revise the regulations governing registered survey and design engineers, construction engineers, and supervisory engineers, strengthen supervision over professional practice behaviors, and ensure that individual practitioners assume clear responsibilities. Promote international exchanges and cooperation in the construction sector and explore the possibility of mutual recognition of individual professional qualifications on an international level.
(9) Innovate the administrative approval work mechanism. Summarize pilot experiences, advance the pilot program of a commitment-based system for enterprise qualification approvals, refine the mechanisms for enterprise qualification approvals, study and formulate management measures for on-site verification of enterprise performance, and standardize on-site verification practices. Conduct pilot programs for computerized, standardized, and intelligent review processes. Study and promote the digitalization of enterprise qualification certificates.
IV. Implement the political responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.
(10) Strengthen Party building in a comprehensive manner. Thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC. Strictly enforce the "Measures of the Construction Market Supervision Department on Implementing the Political Responsibility for Fully and Strictly Governing the Party," and focus on enhancing the "Four Consciousnesses" and firmly upholding the "Four Confidences," continuously improving our capacity to perform our duties and our ability to serve the people. Earnestly implement the "Regulations on the Work of Grassroots Organizations of the Communist Party of China in Party and State Organs" and the "Implementation Plan of the Central State Organs for Fully and Strictly Governing the Party." Strengthen the building of Party branches, regard Party building as an important component of overall work, coordinate planning and conduct regular studies, ensuring that Party-building work and business work are planned and implemented together.
(11) Continuously improve the work style of cadres. Implement thoroughly the Implementation Measures issued by the Party Group of the Ministry on further implementing the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation and rectifying the “Four Winds” in depth. Conduct in-depth investigations into new manifestations of formalism and bureaucratism, formulate targeted corrective measures, and resolutely prevent the resurgence of the “Four Winds” problems. Firmly uphold the development philosophy centered on the people, intensify efforts to serve the masses, and promptly address issues of public concern and those that have drawn strong public attention. Go deep into the grassroots level, vigorously promote a culture of investigation and research, broaden and deepen the scope and depth of such research, enhance its quality, and promptly resolve prominent issues in the reform and development of the construction industry.
(12) Deepen education on Party conduct and integrity. Further promote the normalization and institutionalization of the “Two Studies, One Action” study and education campaign, and carry out in-depth special education on “Staying True to Our Original Aspiration and Keeping Our Mission Firmly in Mind.” Uphold the learning system for Party members and cadres, the “Three Meetings and One Class” system, the monthly reminders on integrity, and the system for reporting typical cases. Widely conduct education on ideals and beliefs, core socialist values, and clean governance, guiding Party members and cadres to strengthen their sense of purpose and awareness of the masses, enhance their ability to resist and rectify unhealthy tendencies, and solidly build an ideological and moral defense against corruption and degeneration. (Website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development)