Study by Chinese government seeks to adopt best practice from Europe and the USA
China is increasingly turning to the UK and other western nations for expertise in project management after the Chinese government ordered a major research exercise into the discipline.
The study, which began earlier this year, is seeking to identify best-practice approaches to project management in markets including the USA and Germany, as well as the UK.
It is being led by China鈥檚 Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, formerly known as the Ministry of Construction, and has included project reviews and interviews with leading project management firms, international organisations such as the International Federation of Consulting Engineers and Chinese professionals working in project management outside of China.
Mark Budden, partner at EC Harris and head of China at the firm, said the long-term aims included training home-grown professionals and establishing an effective regulatory system.
鈥淧roject management is a relatively new phenomenon in China and not as well understood as some more traditional services, such as cost management,鈥� he said.
鈥淗owever, as projects become increasingly more complicated there is a growing appetite to better understand the discipline and to train the local workforce so they can deliver these skills over the coming years.
鈥淎s well as developing a much clearer picture of what the discipline actually entails and what it could contribute to China鈥檚 construction industry, they hope to achieve a better understanding of the tools that are needed to effectively deliver the service.鈥�
Michael Brown, deputy chief executive of the Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区 (CIOB), said he and CIOB president Alan Crane had recently met with government officials to discuss project management.
鈥淭hey are considering the registration of project managers,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ost other professions are already registered and they would register the function [of project management] as well as the title.鈥�
The government plans to finalise the report at the end of this year and to implement its lessons from early 2013 onwards.
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