Recently, significant progress has been made on the Mukaab Square City project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with China Harbor Engineering Company and the Fourth Harbor Engineering Company of CCCC overseeing and executing the earthwork package. In less than six months, the project saw the completion of 4.6 million cubic meters of earth excavation, reaching nearly 66% of the overall project progress. This figure far surpasses the original expectation of 40% set by the project's owners. The efficiency of the construction has been highly praised and recognized by the project's stakeholders. This initiative aims to construct the world’s largest monolithic building, demonstrating the contribution of Chinese enterprises and their solutions.
During the million-safe-hours celebration of the Mukaab Square City project in Riyadh, the owner, the newly established New Murabba Development Company under Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), awarded the “Million Safe Hours Award” to the project director, Yang Shuangxi. The award signifies that Chinese companies are trusted partners, acknowledging their participation and contribution, and looking forward to the project's future outcomes with confidence.
The Mukaab Square City project in Riyadh, led by the New Murabba Development Company, aims to construct an iconic cubic skyscraper in the center of the new Murabba district in the capital, with each side measuring 400 meters. This unique building is expected to become the world’s second climate-controlled indoor city, following Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid City. The Square City is designed to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly modern new city. Through its construction, it is expected to not only drive the future development of Riyadh as Saudi Arabia’s capital and primary city but also contribute approximately $50 billion to the Saudi non-oil economy and create over 330,000 direct and indirect jobs. This project is a crucial part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy for economic diversification, marking a significant step towards reducing reliance on oil and promoting economic and social development.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia's focus on digital “new infrastructure,” extensive civil engineering “old infrastructure,” and energy resources have provided numerous opportunities for Chinese companies in construction, electricity, telecommunications, and other infrastructure sectors. Currently, there are up to 160 major Chinese infrastructure companies in Saudi Arabia. According to McKinsey estimates, from 2025 to 2028, Saudi Arabia is expected to invest over $175 billion annually in industrial and large-scale projects. This month, China Harbor Engineering Arabia Ltd and the Saudi branch of China Railway Construction Corporation secured a landmark building contract in Jeddah worth $3.2 billion. In June 2023, Saudi Railways (SAR) signed a $250 million agreement with CRRC of China to manufacture train carriages and wheels for Saudi Arabia. Additionally, in the ambitious $500 billion NEOM project, companies like PowerChina, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, and Huawei are participating.
In the first half of 2023, Saudi Arabia saw a significant increase in the total value of construction and transportation engineering contracts awarded. After 2019, with the strengthening of oil prices, Saudi Arabia's development plans have propelled the launch of construction contracting projects, requiring the technical expertise and strength of foreign contractors. In 2020, foreign contractors secured new orders worth $4.6 billion, and in 2021, they won contracts for projects valued at $5.1 billion. The trend continued to rise in 2023, with awards reaching $7.7 billion in the first two quarters.