The very fabric of Hong Kong's skyline owes much to the expertise of the engineers who have used it as their canvas. Whether above ground or under it, or even spanning it, astonishing engineering feats have long underpinned Hong Kong's success.

For the past 80 years, Jardine Engineering Corporation (JEC) has been helping Hong Kong grow. The company, which turned 80 this February, was officially incorporated in Shanghai on February 15, 1923. But its expertise can be traced back to 1876, when China's first railway was completed with engineering introduced by Jardine Matheson, the parent of JEC.

In its early years, the company was involved in a diverse range of products and industries, encompassing railways, textile machinery, marine motors, electrical appliances, paint, and even supplied Stover Engines which Chinese farmers used to irrigate their fields. It also ran a number of manufacturing ventures to better serve its customers. Factories producing JEC-designed boilers, machine tools, baling presses, marine motors and steel windows were large employers at the time in Pudong.

The very fabric of Hong Kong's skyline owes much to JEC, John Lang, chief executive of JEC said. The company has not only supplied and serviced the mechanical, electrical and building equipment used in so many of its buildings, but has also played a major role in the development of communications and transportation systems that underpin Hong Kong's success.

JEC is also credited with a number of firsts in Hong Kong. It became the first fire services contractor in Hong Kong with the completion of the China Building in 1924. It supplied the original Peak Tram machinery. JEC installed Hong Kong's first air-conditioning system, which must have brought tremendous relief to movie-goers at the King's Theatre where it was installed in 1929. Then in 1932, it installed the new ammonia refrigerant system at the Queen's Theatre.

It was also in the early 1930s that JEC won the majority of contracts for the construction of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, the most prestigious building project in early 1930s Shanghai. The project help promote JEC and its technologies, which led to thousands of elevators being installed throughout the country.

With rapid technological advancements in the engineering field taking place almost daily, JEC invests heavily in staff training, whether it is training up new engineers straight out of school, or seasoned engineers looking to get their electrical, mechanical or building services certificates.

"We invest about 5 per cent of our profits into training staff," said Patty Ip, director of JEC's Human Resources Department. "And I think this is one of the reasons that our staff turnover remains very low a just 6 per cent per year."

With a workforce of about 1,500 staff in Hong Kong, and roughly the same number employed by JEC's regional offices, the continuity, loyalty and family-approach between staff and the company has and will continue to drive JEC's success, Mr Lang added.

"We are all like one big family here," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I started here in the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1974, and we have some staff who have been here even longer than I have.

"But I would have to say that training is critical. Staff have got to keep abreast of all the equipment we are installing, which is not limited to the hard skills, but just as importantly the soft skills."

The current economic malaise in Hong Kong resulted in more than half of JEC Group's profits in 2002 being earned outside the territory. The company's operations in Thailand, especially, have benefited tremendously from the large infrastructure projects underway in the country.

While JEC's operations in the Asia-Pacific region have been enjoying strong growth, one area where Mr Lang said JEC is eager to expand its presence in the years ahead is China.

"We started up in China, and although we went away in 1949, we have had a presence there since 1980," he said. "I would say China is our future hope. It is a huge market and we have to learn how to successfully get our products and services out to market there."

Unlike manufacturers, service providers have found the China market a difficult nut to crack. All sectors of the service industry, from trading to insurance to construction have had to jump a lot of hurdles, not least local competition, in order to survive.

"So we won't be able to use the same model that works in Thailand or Hong Kong. We will have to find the model that is right for China," he said.

Mr Lang is banking that growth in China will compensate for a sluggish Hong Kong market, which he expects will gradually start to pick up over the next two years. But the company isn't sitting around waiting for the economy to rebound. It is looking to expand into new areas that offer strong potential.

One such area is the Security and Fire Systems Department, which JEC set up in May 2002.

"Although we have been in the security systems business for over 30 years, our partner bought us out, so now we have decided to go it alone," Peter Cheung, operations director, JEC Security & Fire Systems, explained.

His mission is to make the new division the market leader in Hong Kong within the next five years. With 30 years' security-business experience under his belt, Mr Cheung said he is confident that he will reach his goal.

"Our business comes from all market sectors and the initial focus will be on the financial and commercial sectors, including existing customers within the Jardine Matheson Group," he said.

Mr Lang added, "Security & Fire Systems is just one of the ways that we will continue to upgrade and offer new services to our customers. This is so that building owners will always have the opportunity to benefit from new technologies or services which make their buildings safer, more efficient or more environmentally friendly."