The Publicity Department of Shandong held a news conference on Sept 30 to discuss the development of housing and urban and rural construction in the province since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012.

During the past 10 years, the proportion of the added value of the construction industry in the province's GDP has amounted to more than 6.6 percent, hitting a total of 11.5 trillion yuan ($1.62 trillion).

The province has given full play to the advantages of the construction industry, which is highly interconnected and expanding, and effectively promoted the development and prosperity of the municipal infrastructure and more than 50 related industries, including steel, cement, elevators, real estate, and transportation, giving strong support to the sustained and healthy development of the regional economy.

With the development and expansion of the construction industry, the peak number of employees exceeded 3 million, providing a large number of jobs, and becoming an important way to absorb rural surplus labor, solve farmers' employment issues and increase farmers' incomes.

During the past decade, the number of enterprises with a super grade general contractor qualification in Shandong has increased from 12 to 54, ranking fourth in China. There are 25 enterprises in the industry with an annual output value exceeding 10 billion yuan.