Global activity distribution patterns of top international Chinese contractors

Top international Chinese contractors' (TICCs) are now major influential players in the global construction market. The last two decades have witnessed a remarkable growth in their global rankings, by revenue. The spatial distribution and expansive behaviors of TICCs are of interest to international contractors generally, as well as to national infrastructure procurers. Nevertheless, few researchers have considered the spatial distribution of TICCs. This study demonstrates that TICCs’ market selection and market positioning are not independent, but have similar characteristics. Clustering methods were used to order the data, with ESDA methods used to analyze the data. The key findings are that TICCs’ target specific national markets and that these markets tend to be geographically proximate creating regional agglomerations. The inference to be drawn is that TICCs tend to follow in each other's footsteps as they expand globally.