More than 25 years of progress at leading Chinese prestressed concrete producer

Shanghai Citi Raise Construction Group Co. Ltd., established in 1997 by Mr. Wang Jilai, is a large-scale corporate group with a complete industrial chain that covers real estate development, architectural planning and design, general contracting of construction, construction industrialization and operation of 5A-grade office buildings, commercial properties and hotels.

The group adheres to „integrity, realism and innovation“, regards „quality“ and „reputation“ as the lifeblood of the enterprise, and actively fulfills social responsibilities. Through technology research and development and high-quality construction, the group anticipates client needs, saves costs for them, and continually applies advanced scientific and technological processes to construction projects, to meet global environmental protection and energy-saving needs.

With „prefabricating century-long buildings“ and „fostering a green future with scientific innovation“ as its mission, the group uses its powerful comprehensive strength to provide all-round, full-process services for various construction projects for both domestic and international clients.

The group‘s headquarters is located in the heart of the Caojiadu business district in Jing‘an, Shanghai, at the core intersection of Jing‘an, Putuo, and Changning districts. It is an urban complex project that integrates office space, shopping, leisure, and entertainment.

The commercial building has a construction area of 40,000 square meters and is the first cloud-top mall in Asia. It meets leisure, shopping, dining, and entertainment needs, with artistic and considerate facilities, providing customers with an extraordinary home-like experience. The office building has an area of 60,000 square meters and is a 31-story high-rise building. It is a 5A-grade international business center, artistically crafted by 11 top global teams. With 90% of the occupants being multinational companies, it offers the convenience of high-end business operations.

With the following parameters, Shanghai Citi Raise claims to be the largest precast concrete plant in China and one of the largest in Asia:

16 Prestressed hollow-core slab lines with each length of 150 meters;

6 Prestressed half slab lines with each length of 150 meters;

6 TT slab, beam & column lines with each length of 80 meters;

8 Prestressed beam lines with each length of 162 meters;

1 Automated circulating line for half slab with 45 tables;

5 Halls of wall panels and other special shaped components with 40 fixed tables in each hall.

The product portfolio includes Prestressed Hollow Core Slabs, Prestressed TT Slabs, Prestressed Half Slabs, Truss Reinforced Half Slabs, Sandwich Wall panels, Beams, Columns, Balconies, Staircases, etc.

1^st Company in Asia in terms of annual prefabrication volume

Wang Hua Jiong, General Manager of Shanghai Citi Raise explains: “We adhere to integrity, realism, and innovation, regard quality and reputation as the lifeblood of our enterprise, and actively fulfil social responsibilities. Through technology research and development and high-quality construction, we anticipate client needs, save costs for them, and continually apply advanced scientific and technological processes to construction projects, to meet global environmental protection and energy-saving needs. With prefabricating century-long buildings and fostering a green future with scientific innovation as its mission, we use our powerful comprehensive strength to provide all-round, full-process services for various construction projects for both domestic and international clients.“

Duan Zongwei (Vice General Manager) adds: “Our daily production output is an impressive 2,000 cubic meters and our annual capacity is 600,000 cubic meters. There are several reasons why we consider ourselves the leading company in the Chinese prefabrication industry, probably the largest in Asia:

1^st Company in Asia in terms of annual prefabrication volume and product variety,

Efficient, cost-controllable and automated production lines;

In-house development of new prefabricated components that replace the traditional system;

Conducting R&D, design and production through comprehensive application of 3-dimensional modeling design software as well as MRP, ERP and other systems to achieve information-based and intelligent process control;

Main products for sale are prefabricated components for residential construction projects that account for the majority of sales revenue.“

Chief Engineer Jiao Hongxiang also commented: “We plan to invest more in the development of new, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly prefabricated construction systems and advanced prefabricated components for energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly buildings. Increase special funds for the modernization and modification of existing production lines and the acquisition of new equipment to reduce costs and increase efficiency by improving digital, intelligent and automated production and management. This will ultimately strengthen the company‘s competitiveness in the industry.“

Flagship project Haiyan Prefabricated Construction Industrial Park

According to the Management of Shanghai Citi Raise, the construction market in China is weak at the present and hope it will recover soon. To upgrade & modify existing production lines, and purchase new equipment to achieve the purpose of reducing costs and increasing efficiency through improving digital, intelligent, automated production and management level, ultimately strengthens the competitiveness of the company in the industry. There are plans to increase more efforts in developing new prefabricated building systems which are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, and advanced prefabricated components for the energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly buildings.

In addition, active participation in or leadership of the preparation and publication of construction standards for prestressed hollow-core slabs is sought. Increased cooperation with architectural and structural design institutes to promote the use of prestressed hollow-core slabs.

The construction project for Haiyan Prefabricated Construction Industrial Park is one of the flagship projects for Shanghai Citi Raise. As all the buildings in the park are prefabricated buildings, and all the prefabricated components were manufactured in the factory in the park.

New member of the IPHA

This year in May, the International Prestressed Hollowcore Association (IPHA) celebrated its 30-year anniversary in Newcastle, North Ireland at its annual conference jointly hosted by Creagh Concrete and Combilift (see also BFT 07/2024). IPHA was founded in 1994 as the result of a common vision of leading industry representatives to promote collaboration, innovation and an exchange of tried and tested methods in the field of prestressed hollow-core products. The association quickly turned into a global platform and bringing together manufacturers, designers, engineers and stakeholders.

As a new member, Shanghai Citi Raise participated this year for the first time and was represented by Wang Hua Jiong (General Manager), Duan Zongwei (Vice General Manager) and Jiao Hongxiang (Chief Engineer). IPHA President Seamus McKeague expressed very delighted: „Along with the long-standing member, UPH Group of the Arabian Peninsula with precast concrete plants in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai, it is a great honor for us to welcome among us a second Asian company with Shanghai Citi Raise and, what‘s more, a big player like this.“

On the initiative of Elematic and Peikko

The contact was initiated by the long-standing Finnish IPHA members, Elematic (Akaa) and Peikko (Lahti). Both machine manufacturer/supplier equipped the precast concrete plant of Shanghai Citi Raise to a large extent and supplied their construction projects. Elematic supplied the major part of the prestressed concrete production technology, among others, one of their „flagships“ the extruder P7. Seppo Kauppinen, CEO of Elematic Teeyer Construction Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. stated in this regard: „We can provide a quite considerable list of references with over 40 projects in China and more than ten projects abroad in the Middle East, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and other Asian countries. The greatest undoubtedly has been, so far, the delivery of two large-scale manufacturing lines for the two locations of Shanghai Citi Raise at once.“

Peikko in turn has started the cooperation with the Shanghai Citi Raise Construction Group with a Deltabeam pilot project in Datuan Town, Pudong New Area this year. This project is intended to be completed by the end of 2024 and will help to change traditional construction practices, to promote an environmentally-friendly development, to improve the quality of the living environment and to offer visitors a unique experience of accommodation.

„Sustainable construction can be separated into two periods of time. In the short run, it is decisive to minimize the emissions occurring in connection with the materials and the actual construction, which have an immediate impact. In the long run, the reuse of the materials is of significance – in this project, we have taken both perspectives into account as good as possible,“ explained Topi Paananen, CEO of the Peikko Group. ,,Peikko Deltabeam supports the sustainable renovation of old residential buildings by reinforcing their previously unstable structures. It provides a slim floor structure, which conserves floor height and optimizes spatial utilization within the building. Concurrently, its streamlined installation process achieves savings in both time and cost, adding a modern touch to the refurbishment of vintage homes“, added Martin Fenčák, General Manager at Peikko China.