China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC), the world's largest public construction contractor by market value, has inked a 1.9 billion-U.S.-dollar construction deal with Bahamas-based Baha Mar Resorts Inc., China Daily reported Tuesday.

CSCEC will be involved with a part of the 1,000-acre Baha Mar Resorts coming up in Nassau. The 3.6 billion-U.S.-dollar resort is likely to be thrown open to the public in late 2013 and work will start in early 2010, the newspaper said, citing a CSCEC statement.

The Chinese firm is also acquiring a 2.75 percent stake in the resort by investing 99 million U.S. dollars. The company bagged 3.1 billion U.S. dollar worth of new overseas construction projects in the first half of the year, accounting for 11 percent of the new contracts during the same period, according to the newspaper.

Overseas constructions projects normally have a higher profit margin than domestic projects but it also has accompanying risks like floating interest rates and political instabilities, said analysts.

The Bahamas contract was signed during China's top legislator Wu Bangguo's visit to the North American country recently.

The Export-Import Bank of China will finance the project. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Source:Xinhua