The development of the construction industry has led to an increase in the number of criteria imposed by project clients for selecting contractors. For example, clients often request tenderers to satisfy various conditions such as a tight programme, financial strength, management ability, relevant work experiences, technical strength, high workmanship standards, safety requirements and more. This trend has attracted research interest in devising various methods for helping project clients to assess contractors' bids. It appears, however, that there is little existing research on helping contractors to formulate their competition strategy when these multiple criteria are imposed. This paper examines the attributes affecting contractors' competition strategy in competing for public works in Hong Kong. The understanding of the key factors of a competition strategy will contribute to identifying an effective competition strategy. The data used for the analysis were collected from the Hong Kong construction industry. The research findings provide valuable references for investigating effective competition strategies in other construction industries outside the region.