Among engineering degree programs at the bachelor's level in China, civil engineering was the first one accredited in accordance with a professional programmatic accreditation system comparable to that of international practice. Launched in 1994, the accreditation of civil engineering aimed high and toward international standards and featured the following characteristics. First, the Ministry of Construction (MoC), now the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD), attached great importance to programmatic accreditation, holding to the guiding principle: "to establish by all means an engineering accreditation system that follows international practice." Second, the National Board of Civil Engineering Accreditation (NBCEA) is composed of senior scholars in engineering education and senior practicing engineers; therefore it is a very professional authority. Third, every effort was made to ensure that the accreditation criteria is equivalent to internationally recognized standards, that the accreditation procedure corresponds to international practices, and that the criteria and procedures published were strictly followed in the implementation. Fourth, as the civil engineering programmatic accreditation system was initially established, its linkage with the engineer registration system had already been taken into consideration. Last, the board maintained close communication and cooperation with its international peers. Accreditation experience at the international level was thoroughly studied, digested, and then absorbed in combination with Chinese culture so as to build up the professional accreditation system in China. Obviously, in the past two years, China has made great strides in engineering programmatic accreditation and is moving onto the "fast lane" to catch up with international practice. The task is arduous and the road ahead is still long for engineering programmatic accreditation and engineer registration in China. Based on the analysis and studies, the author puts forward several suggestions in this article. (Contains 1 table.