China’s shoddy construction projects have been frequently reported. Recently, a video titled “Hebei workers break rebar barehanded” has been circulating online. In the video, workers at a large residential construction site in Bazhou City, Hebei province, were seen breaking the construction-grade rebar barehanded. However, the official statement claims that the batch of rebar passed quality inspection, sparking doubts.
According to mainland Waves News, a large residential project in Bazhou City, Hebei province – Guoyun City Phase II, was found to be using substandard rebar. Workers were able to break 16mm threaded steel bars barehanded. The project is being constructed by the Engineering and Technology Institute subsidiary of the state-owned enterprise MCC Tiangong Group Co., Ltd., with a total construction area of approximately 280,000 square meters.
Mr. Ji, a former subcontractor at the project, revealed that last year he noticed a batch of threaded steel used on site that seemed to have quality issues, “The 16mm threaded steel was unusually brittle, easily breakable by hand.”
Mr. Ji, with years of frontline construction experience, stated, “It should be very difficult to break or bend 16mm rebar, but this batch was different. Upon reporting to the contracting unit MCC Tiangong, they presented a test report claiming the rebar was qualified.”
The video provided by Mr. Ji shows a worker in MCC Tiangong’s work attire breaking four segments of rebar in less than 10 seconds, with two segments breaking and the other two significantly bent.
“This worker is over 50 years old, but breaks them effortlessly,” Mr. Ji revealed. Some of the rebar could be broken on the spot, while others couldn’t, indicating inconsistent quality.
Mr. Ji made multiple complaints to the Housing and Construction Bureau, all unsuccessful. Consequently, he chose to expose the issue online in hope of drawing attention and eliminating potential safety hazards.
In response, the Bazhou City Housing and Construction Bureau issued a statement saying the rebar used for the project was sampled and tested twice in October 2024 and April 2025, with reports showing the rebar “complying with design and regulatory requirements.”
The statement further mentioned that Mr. Ji was responsible for the rebar construction work at the project, but due to slow progress and unsatisfactory quality, the main contractor had dismissed him, resulting in a dispute captured in the video.
The official response has raised doubts. “So shady! The officials are in cahoots…looks like they’re well-fed with inkfish rice. “Continue the cover-up, let’s see if the story changes.”
“The samples submitted by the developer for testing are not the actual rebar used, hence the testing results are always fine. Quality inspection stations don’t sample on-site; they are only responsible for the samples, making the testing a mere formality.” “In this day and age, believing in test reports is a joke. I’ve been in construction for nearly 20 years; we select and weigh the materials on-site according to the electronic scale, then send for testing. The results are always good. Poor-quality materials are hidden using greased palms, and this is not an isolated incident on construction sites.”
“There are murky dealings between the development and construction units and the local quality supervision station. Such blatant substandard rebar must be taken seriously by the local government; lives are at stake, and the individuals responsible must be severely punished.” “With subcontracting and cost escalation at every level, by the time it reaches the construction phase, profit margins are already slim, leading to shortcuts and shoddy work becoming common.”