Chinese construction earns high reputation from overseas
By Lu Yanan from People’s Daily
A series of projects contracted by Chinese companies, as part of their efforts to boost connectivity among the “Belt and Road” countries, have won more applause, with the China-constructed rail project connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti serving as one of the epitomes.
“The railway brings night-and-day difference,” said a Djiboutian passenger Abdul who has taken the line six times to go to Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia.
“I could only take buses to go to Dire Dawa before, and it took me 18 hours because of the poor conditions of the road. Now, I can arrive there 4 hours by the comfortable train carriages,” Abdul told People’s Daily.
The Addis Ababa–Djibouti rail line, a standard-gauge railway built and operated by China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), was officially put into commercial operation on January 1, 2018.
Running a distance of 750 kilometers, the railway is Africa’s first and longest transnational electrified railway. It also marked the first time that a complete spectrum of a Chinese railway industry chain in Africa is fully backed by Chinese standards, including technology, equipment, financing, construction, supervision, operation and management.
In the first half of this year, the railway transported a total of 55,000 passengers and containers of over 17,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), becoming an artery for passenger and freights between Ethiopia and Djibouti.
“I’m proud that Ethiopia has got such a railway,” said a university student in Dire Dawa.
In addition to receiving applause from the people of the two countries, the railway has also become a must-see destination for many visiting delegations. On June 15, diplomatic personnel of the EU, France and Nigeria in African Union boarded an Ethiopia-Djibouti train to learn about the railway and the industrial parks along the route.
The rail line is only one of the many projects constructed to boost infrastructure interconnectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative proposed five years ago. Chinese construction, over the years when more international arteries were undergoing accelerated construction, has been well-reputed overseas.
Chinese construction aims for win-win cooperation and prioritizes innovation, which can be represented by the high-speed rail link between China and Thailand, Thailand’s first high-speed rail whose phase-1 construction was officially commenced on December 21, 2017.
The high-speed rail was hailed as “the second technological innovation in Thailand’s railway history” by Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.
The minister is very confident about China’s high-speed rail technology, saying that the high-speed rail will align Thailand with the construction of Belt and Road and thus facilitate regional economic development.
Employment of local residents and training of local talents were given importance by Chinese firms when launching overseas projects, which can be evidenced by the Port Qasim Coal-fired Power Plant, one of the first projects implemented within “Belt and Road” framework.
The project, built by Power Construction Corporation of China, employed over 3,000 Pakistani workers at its peak, and offered a six-month free technical training in China to 100 Pakistani operation and maintenance workers.
Chinese construction also respects local culture and encourages green development. China Road & Bridge Corporation, for instance, has designed 14 animal passages for a super grand bridge it built along the Mombasa-Nairobi standard-gauge railway that goes over a beloved protected wildlife park in Kenya’s capital.
Such considerate design has offered adequate space for giraffes to walk through under the bridge that has a height ranging from 8 to 29 meters. In addition, the company has also built culverts in low-lying areas for animals like zebras to drink water.
Pics:
Photo shows a full view of Djibouti’s Nagad train station along the Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway. (Photo by Lv Qiang from People’s Daily)
A little girl shows her ticket to People’s Daily reporter on a train running along the Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway. (Photo by Lv Qiang from People’s Daily)
中国建造”享誉海外
人民日报记者 陆娅楠
亚吉铁路吉布提那噶德火车站全景。
人民日报记者 吕 强摄
亚吉铁路列车上的小乘客向记者展示车票。
人民日报记者 吕 强摄
“和过去比简直是天壤之别！” 吉布提乘客阿卜杜已经是第六次乘坐亚吉铁路列车前往埃塞俄比亚东部城市德雷达瓦。“之前到德雷达瓦只能坐公共汽车，路况不好，一趟得18个小时。现在乘坐舒适的列车，4小时就能抵达。”
由中国铁建中土集团实施并牵头运营的亚吉铁路，连接埃塞俄比亚与吉布提，长约750公里，是非洲大陆第一条跨国电气化铁路和距离最长的电气化铁路，也是中国在非洲建成的第一条集技术标准、设备、融资、施工、监理、运营和管理于一体的全产业链“中国标准”电气化铁路。
今年1月1日正式商业运营以来，亚吉铁路备受青睐。今年上半年，亚吉铁路累计发送旅客5.5万人次，运输集装箱超1.7万标箱，成为埃塞俄比亚与吉布提两国的客货运输大动脉。“我为埃塞俄比亚能有这样一条铁路感到骄傲。”德雷达瓦大学在校学生特斯法尔说。
不仅两国民众点赞，亚吉铁路还成为不少代表团的考察必选线路。6月15日，欧盟、法国、尼日利亚等驻非盟外交人员乘坐列车考察了亚吉铁路及沿线工业园建设情况。
亚吉铁路是“一带一路”建设设施联通的一个缩影。“一带一路”倡议提出5年来，高效畅通的国际大通道正加快建设，“中国建造”享誉海外。
“中国建造”坚持合作共赢，送上创新礼包。2017年12月21日，泰国首条高铁——中泰铁路合作项目一期工程正式开建。“泰国迎来了历史上第二次铁路科技革新，让泰国与‘一带一路’建设对接，将带动区域经济圈的发展。我对中国高铁技术非常有信心。”泰国交通部长阿空说。
“中国建造”重视当地就业，培育本土人才。中国电建投资建设的巴基斯坦卡西姆电站，是“一带一路”建设首批落地项目。施工高峰期在项目工作的巴基斯坦员工达3000多名，还有100名参与运营维护的巴籍员工来到中国进行了为期半年的免费技术培训。
“中国建造”尊重当地文化，传递绿色理念。中国路桥修建的蒙内铁路马林贝蒂特大桥，桥高8—29米，长颈鹿也可以悠然穿行，全程共设置野生动物通道14个，还在小河沟等低洼处设置涵洞方便斑马等动物饮水。
