When Sinohydro started building an apartment block in Libya in 2008, the $2bn project could not have seemed safer: it had been commissioned by the government of the now-deceased Colonel Muammer Gaddafi who had a tight grip on his country.

But three years later, the Chinese engineering company and world’s biggest dam builder found itself scrambling to evacuate its employees as Libya descended into civil war.

After years of expansion into emerging markets and developing a reputation along the way for taking on projects in difficult environments, experiences such as Libya are prompting a change in the way that Chinese companies assess risk. The shift – backed by Beijing – comes as Chinese companies increasingly compete with Bechtel, Hyundai Engineering, Leighton and other international contractors.