CSCEC was founded in 1957 as a government company. [8] [9] Early on, the country had an international profile, building heavy industry and infrastructure in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. [10] The previous company opened its first overseas office in Kuwait in the late 1970s. [11] The company left its regionally limited operating pattern in 1985 when it entered the US market by opening an office in Atlanta. [10] The US subsidiary began by building residential developments with joint venture partners before undertaking its first single development in 1987 in Jacksonville, Florida, called Lantana Lakes, a 107-acre, $27 million complex of 42 homes.[10]

With the encouragement of the Chinese government and financing assistance from the Export-Import Bank of China, CSCEC has taken increasingly bold steps as the founder and investor of overseas projects. In 2011, the trend abroad reached a new high when Baha Mar Resorts, the $3.4 billion casino and resort built and partially owned by CSCEC, opened after the company's "highly aggressive" efforts to liaise with the Bahamas developer who initiated the project. [11] It was the largest construction project undertaken by a Chinese company outside of China.