Chinese businessmen learn American construction ways.

Leading Chinese businessmen from the City of Shenzhen were given an insiders view of the American construction and real estate industries at a breakfast seminar and several tours that were part of the group's three-week tour of the United States.

The group, 28 members of the Shenzhen Enterprises Association for International Cooperation, are visiting the U.S. to promote business and government exchanges between the U.S. and Shenzhen, a city of 2.4 million people about one hour north of Hong Kong. Shenzhen has been designated a special economic zone by the Chinese government.

Dao Ming Zhoa, director of the Shenzhen Petrochemical Co. Ltd., is the delegation's leader.

Hosting the seminar and a luncheon was the Macklowe Organization and Kent Swig, executive vice president.

"Contract Methods for Private and Public Development" was the topic of the breakfast seminar presented by Robert Peckar, senior partner in Peckar & Abramson, leading construction attorneys.

Peckar, general counsel to the New York Building Congress, described the different contract arrangements for construction in the United States.

For example, for public buildings he described the traditional method used by the federal government of having a general contractor responsible for the subcontractors, and the "Multiple Prime Contractor Method" favored by many states and municipalities that has the public owner hire the general contractor and subcontractors separately.

The seminar was followed by a walking tour of the Times Square Business Improvement Development site conducted by Michael Dirzulaitis, senior vice president of finance and real estate of the Urban Development Corp.