Our history can be traced back to the 1950s when the Northeast Engineering Company of the Central Ministry of Light Industry (中央轻工业部东北工程公司) and No.1 Construction Installment Engineering Company of the North China Textile Administrative Bureau under the Central Ministry of Textile Industry (中央纺织工业部华北纺织管理局第一建筑安装工程公司) were established as central state-owned enterprises in 1952 and 1953, respectively. We were renamed as No. 2 Construction Engineering Company of No.8 Bureau of the Ministry of Construction Engineering (建工部八局第二建筑工程公司) in October 1965 and further renamed as No. 1 Construction Engineering Company of Hebei Province (河北省第一建筑工程公司) in 1980. Our predecessor, Hebei Jianshe Construction Group Co., Ltd. (河北建设集团有限公司) was established in 1997 through restructuring and merging, which was renamed in 2017 as Hebei Construction Group Corporation Limited (河北建设集团股份有限公司) Based in Baoding city of Hebei province, we have a registered capital of RMB1.3 billion. With a total revenue of RMB38.6 billion and a new contract value of RMB48.2 billion in 2016, we ranked 366th among the "Top 500 Enterprises in China" in 2017 and ranked 20th among the "Top 80 Contractors in China" in 2017. According to Frost & Sullivan, in terms of revenue in 2016, we are the largest non-state owned construction contracting company in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and the second largest non-state owned construction contracting company in China.
We have grown from a specialized civil engineering company to a premium grade cross-sector construction contracting company. As of 30 June 2017, the construction contracting qualifications we possess include one premium grade qualification, 19 first grade qualifications, 12 second grade qualifications and seven third grade qualifications. These qualifications cover seven out of the 12 types of general contracting qualifications, and 17 out of the 36 types of specialized contracting qualifications in the construction contracting industry, allowing us to undertake a variety of construction projects. We have a broad range of professional qualifications in the industry, including those for the general contracting of foreign aid projects and foreign labor service cooperation.
Our services span across: construction contracting project management and related technology and management services; construction design, project feasibility and technology consulting services; construction technology consulting services; residential construction, public works construction, electrical and mechanical installation, road construction, railway construction, harbor and waterways construction, water supply and treatment construction, roadbed and road surface construction, steel structures construction, airport runways construction, urban pipelines construction, earthwork construction, construction decoration, foundation works, bridge construction, tunnel construction, lifting equipment installation; property development, property sales, property rental; provision of construction materials, decoration materials, reusable materials, construction machinery and equipment, equipment sales, rental and repairs; contracting foreign projects of similar prestige, size and performance; employment and dispatch of foreign labor services; civil air defense works, building decoration, curtain wall system construction, light steel structure construction, building intelligence systems, lighting systems and fire protection facilities construction design; self-operating and acting as agent to the import and export of goods except export goods running jointly by national organizations and import goods running by national approved companies; land consolidation; pressure vessel design, pre-stressed concrete piping with steel cylinder manufacturing, pre-mixed commercial concrete production and sales, precast concrete component manufacturing, metal structure manufacturing.
We keep expanding our pool of talents. As of the 30 June 2017, we have 5,386 employees, seven experts receiving the special allowance of the State Council or provincial governments, 62 professor-level senior engineers and over 800 Class A Constructor License holders.
With the Group's strong management, technology and integrated construction solution approach, we have expanded our operations to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as 31 other provinces, cities and regions in China, enabling us to undertake an increasing number of large construction projects. Building on our strong presence in China, we are also gradually expanding our overseas construction contracting operations to capture opportunities in the overseas market. In recent years, we have participated in a number of projects in Angola, Laos, Fiji and Venezuela.
The Group possesses strong investment and financing capabilities, and has invested in Baocang Expressway, Taiheng Heyi Cement and Bank of Baoding. We have also invested in quite a number of construction projects under the PPP model, including the new campus and ancillary facilities of Hebei Jizhou Middle School in Jizhou, Zhongde Avenue Phase II (from Jieyang Sino-German Metal Eco City to Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport) in Jieyang and Infrastructure Construction of Haiyang Automobile Industrial Innovation Park in Haiyang.
In recognition of our achievements, we have won 18 Lu Ban Awards, and in 2012 we were awarded the first "Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Launching of the Lu Ban Award Winning Construction" (创建鲁班奖工程突出贡献奖金奖) and again in 2017 won the "Entity of Outstanding Contribution for Launching of the Lu Ban Award Winning Construction" (创建鲁班奖工程突出贡献单位). For the expansion project of Hohhot Baita International Airport, we were awarded the "100 Classic and Quality Projects in the 60 Years since the Founding of the PRC" (新中国成立60周年100项经典暨精品工程). We were also awarded the "10th National Quality Award"(第十届全国质量奖) and "Hebei Government Quality Award" (河北省政府质量奖) in 2010 and 2013 respectively. Other notable awards we have received include "National Quality Project Award" (国家优质工程奖), "China Steel Structure Golden Award" (钢结构金奖), "Star of China Installation Award" (安装之星奖) and a range of provincial quality construction awards (省优工程).
We plan to bolster our commitment to technological advancement, so as to enhance our efficiency and competitiveness. In response to our Country's call to promote green construction, we are building more "green buildings," with the aim to help transform and upgrade the traditional construction industry. Our company, with Tianjin University and seven other well-respected partners, co-founded the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Construction Industry Modernization Alliance," a platform for collaboration in research and development and industry upgrading, to improve project information management and broaden BIM technology application. We have obtained the Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award (国家科学技术进步二等奖) in 2011 and three Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize subsequently (中国土木工程詹天佑奖). As of 30 June 2017, we own 138 patents in China, and have successfully developed a total of 105 national and provincial-level construction process methodologies and received nine provincial-level science and technology progress awards.
Our overarching mission is to be "an enterprise with awareness, a legal person with character" (有思想的企业，有人格的法人), and by "character" we mean integrity and ethical conduct. We are customer-centric with a core value of providing our customers with quality services, and with that in mind we wholeheartedly strive to create the best place. With our excellent project quality and high-quality customer service, we have won the trust of our customers, which contributed to the fast growth of the Group. Our efforts have earned us various national-level honor titles, such as "Business Enterprise of Observing Contract and Valuing Credit" (国家级守合同重信用企业), "Home of National Model Workers" (全国模范职工之家), "National May 1st Labor Certificate" (全国五一劳动奖状), "National Customer Satisfaction Enterprise" (全国用户满意企业), "National Excellent Construction Enterprise" (全国优秀施工企业), "National Advanced Unit in Project Construction Management" (全国工程建设管理先进单位), "National Excellent Construction Quality Management Enterprise" (全国工程建设质量管理优秀企业) and "National New Technology Application Advance Group in Construction Industry" (全国建筑业新技术应用先进集体).