China will curb the trend of blindly using foreign designs for large public buildings and encourage domestic bidding for designing such buildings, said the Ministry of Construction on Friday.

 

The move aims to give equal opportunities to domestic and foreign designers, not a rejection to foreign participation in competing for the designing rights, said a spokesperson for the ministry in an interview with the Chinese government website.

 

"Some places have been too enthusiastic about holding international biddings for the designing of large public buildings, especially landmark structures, that domestic designers were treated unfairly," said the spokesperson, who didn't give his name.

 

The spokesperson said Chinese designers were restricted in those biddings or given much lower standards of payment than foreign rivals, which hampered the growth of domestic talents and the improvement of their designing ability.

 

Meanwhile, "some foreign designs disregarded the conditions of China in pursuit of new and strange styles, leading to excessively high cost of construction and operation and even safety risks," said the spokesperson.

 

The decision was written in guidelines issued by the ministry on regulating large public building construction, which also demanded constructors save land and other resources, better protect the environment and preserve local cultural features.

 

Such buildings must subject their design plans to transparent evaluation and approval, while important landmark buildings with government investment should listen to public opinions through direct channels, according to the guidelines.

 

Sample surveys show large public buildings account for less than 4 percent of China's urban construction area but consume more than 20 percent of the country's electricity.

 

Energy use must be considered in approving large public building projects and mandatory checks must be carried out to ensure that new buildings measure up to energy-saving standards, said the guidelines.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2007)