National Construction System Model Worker, Chairman and General Manager of Jiangxi Construction Engineering No.3 Construction Co., Ltd. Zhang Xiaoping

He is the "favored son" of Jiangxi's construction industry for winning the "Luban Prize", and a corporate leader deeply trusted and supported by employees. He is Zhang Xiaoping, Chairman and General Manager of Jiangxi Construction Engineering Third Construction Co., Ltd.

Competing in All Fields, Passionate about Construction

Zhang Xiaoping's life story is quite remarkable. Born in November 1965 in Dongxiang County, Fuzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, he joined Jiangxi First Construction Engineering Company after graduating from university in July 1989, serving successively as construction worker, project manager, and branch manager. In March 2003, he was appointed Deputy General Manager of Jiangxi First Construction Co., Ltd.; in November 2006, General Manager (legal representative) of Jiangxi First Construction Co., Ltd.; in June 2009, transferred to Jiangxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation as Deputy Chief Economist; and in April 2011, appointed Chairman and General Manager of Jiangxi Construction Engineering Third Construction Co., Ltd.

"I love the construction industry." With his passion for the cause, Zhang Xiaoping accomplished in just a few years of his construction career what others might consider impossible. In March 2003, the laboratory building of East China Geological Institute, for which he served as project manager, won the 2012 China Engineering Construction Highest Quality Award—the Luban Prize (Jiangxi Province's second Luban Prize). This "newborn calf unafraid of the tiger" became a legend in Jiangxi's construction industry, writing a brilliant chapter on his path to success. That same year, he took on the important role of Deputy General Manager of Jiangxi First Construction Co., Ltd. Later, during his tenure as Deputy General Manager and General Manager of Jiangxi First Construction, his passion and confidence for creating Luban Prize projects never diminished. The China Jinggangshan Cadre College and Jinggangshan Revolutionary Museum projects won the Luban Prize in 2006 and 2008, respectively.

Reform and Innovation, Striving for Excellence

In April 2011, entrusted by Jiangxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation, Zhang Xiaoping began his career as the leader of Jiangxi Construction Engineering Third Construction Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the group. At that time, Jiangxi Construction Engineering Third Construction had undergone overall restructuring and entered a fast track of development, with production, operation, and other economic and technical indicators ranking among the top of the province's construction enterprises. He well understood that running an enterprise is like sailing against the current—either you forge ahead or you fall behind. He constantly emancipated his mind, changed his concepts, and discussed development plans with the leadership team. He studied market conditions in depth and carried out bold reforms and innovations within the enterprise, continuously adjusting systems and innovating mechanisms.

First, he legally improved the system of mutual coordination and checks among the shareholders' meeting, board of directors, and supervisory board, forming a standardized corporate governance mechanism. In terms of organizational structure, he strengthened the capabilities of functional departments such as production and operation, and established an effective overall departmental operation and coordination mechanism. At the same time, he eliminated non-standard and poorly performing branches inside and outside the province, focusing on building scientifically managed and strong branches. Second, through "Management Year" and "Service Year" activities, he consolidated the company's basic management, established and improved a series of management systems covering production and operation, human resources, finance, engineering projects, and branches, strengthened execution, and ensured smooth implementation of policies. Third, he abandoned the "big pot" mentality, established a performance-oriented culture, reorganized and improved the operating mechanism, and established a grand business strategy of "seizing the province, expanding outside the province, and radiating abroad." He set up reward mechanisms for branches and project departments, forming the company's strongest core competitiveness and injecting strong vitality into the company's next leapfrog development.

Building Nests to Attract Phoenixes, Soaring Development

As the business scale continued to grow, the company's demand for international and versatile talents became increasingly urgent, and talent became a prominent issue hindering the company's development. To break the talent bottleneck, he signed "order-based" talent recruitment plans with universities to address the shortage of project professionals. Every year, he regularly arranged technical personnel from various positions to attend training at universities for further study and refinement of human resources. He organized highly skilled engineers with rich construction experience to pair with newly hired college graduates assigned to the construction frontline, providing "one-on-one" mentoring and coaching. He encouraged employees to self-study for Level 1 and Level 2 Constructor certifications (a reward of 30,000 yuan for passing Level 1 Constructor), and to apply for senior and intermediate professional titles in engineering and economics, as well as senior and intermediate technician and special trade certifications... Through recruitment, introduction, commissioned training, and self-study (application), 52 people obtained Level 1 and Level 2 Constructor (Project Manager) qualifications, and 85 people obtained senior and intermediate professional titles in engineering, economics, and accounting.

Ten parts of hard work, two parts of harvest. As winter gives way to spring, in nearly three years as Chairman and General Manager of Jiangxi Construction Engineering Third Construction Co., Ltd., Zhang Xiaoping has registered more than 30 branches across provinces and cities nationwide, with construction projects spread across the country. He has created a large number of national, provincial, and municipal quality projects. The company's business scale has achieved "three consecutive doublings" in three years, with annual contracted business volume growing from 2.901 billion yuan in 2010 to over 6 billion yuan in 2012. From January to June this year, the contracted business volume exceeded 4 billion yuan, once again reaching a new historical high and achieving the company's second leapfrog development.

In the past two years, the company has been repeatedly rated as a National Excellent Construction Enterprise, an Advanced Enterprise in Jiangxi's Construction Industry, an Advanced Unit in Safety Production Management in Jiangxi Province, an Advanced Construction Unit for Key Projects in Jiangxi's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan," and a National Construction Industry AAA Credit Enterprise. This year, the company also received the Jiangxi Province "May 1st" Labor Award. Zhang Xiaoping has also been repeatedly rated as an advanced individual and excellent party member of the enterprise, and has been awarded the Jiangxi Province "May 1st" Labor Medal and the title of National Construction System Model Worker.