For a Chinese construction company to compete in the US market and undertake these big public projects, the challenges can very well be imagined. Yuan admitted the difficulties, but he believes in expertise, hard work and a willingness to give the lowest bidding price.

He said the most important thing to bear in mind, for Chinese companies, or any foreign ones, is to play by the rules.

"True, we try to make China Construction America a localized company. But after all, we are seen as a Chinese company here, so there is no other way around it but to follow the rules," said Yuan, who also currently heads the General Chamber of Commerce-USA on a two-year term.

Over the past 10 years, China Construction America has grown from about a dozen employees to today's 1,000 in the US. Ninety percent of the staff, according to Yuan, are local hires.

Joseph Catapano, a project manager who oversees the Staten Island Expressway site, said he feels "very privileged" to work for the company.

"It's a very good opportunity for me and I see myself working here until I retire," said Catapano, who has 12 years of engineering experience in New York and California.

"We only employ union workers at our New York job sites," said Yuan, adding the company agreed to follow the "Buy America" rule for the Alexandra Hamilton Bridge project as one condition prior to the bid.

"Buy America" requires the US government to prefer US-made products in its purchases. In this case, companies that win bids should only use US-made products, such as steel.

Yuan said after so many years, China Construction America is ready to take on different projects, and maybe even go back to residential projects. Starting this year, its parent company is planning to invest $2 billion in the US market to boost its investment in public-private partnerships, infrastructure development, mergers and acquisitions and residential projects.

"We have an advantage to help the US build its infrastructure projects. We can bring money and our connections established with both Chinese and foreign banks (to generate the capital) and of course our expertise," Yuan said, calling it a "win-win solution".

After navigating the US market over the past years, China Construction America seems ready to really take off.

Last May, it started on a $3.6 billion resort development in the Bahamas, as both a general contractor and an investor.

The 44-month Baha Mar project, a complex on Nassau's Cable Beach, will employ some 8,000 workers and is projected to generate a 10 percent boost to the Bahamas gross domestic product, according to Baha Mar Ltd, the development company behind the project.

The development plan includes four hotels with more than 2,000 rooms, as well as a golf course, retail space, a convention center and the largest casino in the Caribbean.

"It is scheduled to be completed in December 2014 and is the largest overseas project undertaken by our company and the biggest commercial development abroad among Chinese companies," said Yuan proudly.

yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com