BEIJING — China's construction sector has made marked headway in scale and structure in the past decade, official data showed on Sept 19.

In 2021, the total output value of construction enterprises nationwide reached 29.3 trillion yuan (about $4.22 trillion), up 1.14 times from 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

By the end of 2021, China had 2.26 million construction enterprises. From 2013 to 2021, the number of enterprises increased at an average annual rate of 6.1 percent, achieving a leapfrog development in terms of the scale of the industry.

The construction sector also saw an improving structure. In 2021, the number of top-notch, first-class construction firms in China reached 16,000, up 84.3 percent from 2012.

The industry has grown to become a major contributor to employment. In 2021, 81.8 million people were working in construction firms, ranking second only to the manufacturing sector in the capability of creating jobs, according to the report.