Capital's construction businesses make joint efforts for development

Building a five-star restaurant in two years and experiencing Belarus' five-month, minus 30 C winters is something employees of Beijing Uni-construction Group will never forget.

From 2012 to 2014, more than 1,000 employees were working during peak hours. The team did not return home during the 25 months it took to complete the task, which generally should have taken three years to finish.

With sloped roofs, white walls and grey bricks, the now-completed Beijing Hotel Minsk integrates modern style with traditional Chinese elements.

To avoid damaging the local landscape, the team moved 69 trees and a 20-centimeter-deep expanse of black soil safely away from the construction site. It then brought them back again and reconstructed the garden surrounding the restaurant after completing the project, Wang Dongyu, general manager of the company's overseas construction department, said.

"We cared for every blade of grass and trees to show respect to the country", he said.

The different standards of the two countries posed challenges during construction, such as in the complex personnel dispatch process, logistics purchases and transportation, said Wang.

But after completing several construction projects, Wang said the company has established good relationships with the government, embassies, commercial offices and companies in Belarus.

"We have adapted to local principles and standards, and found ways to bridge differences," Wang added.

The company also constructed a community in Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. A social welfare project in the city, it aimed to move citizens out of shanty towns where overcrowding had caused problems such as environmental pollution, according to Wang.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group, founded in 1957, also participated in renovating 897 meters of street in Ulaanbaatar, including lighting, traffic safety and greenery in 2014.

Beijing Urban Construction Group began the reconstruction project of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport of the Maldives in 2016, aiming to meet growing demand from the increasing number of tourists.

The airport can only support the operation of mid-sized planes, but when completed in June this year, it will be able to host large-scale planes. By 2040, the amount of passengers will reach 120 million, far beyond the capacity of the original airport.

Mohamed Saeed, Maldivian minister of economic development, said at the opening ceremony of the new airport, that it would bring net income of about $47 billion and 75,000 tourism-related job opportunities, increasing employment by 20 percent.

A manager at Beijing Urban Construction Group said the work included sea reclamation, constructing tracks and parking lots, upgrading the lighting systems and logistics.

Beijing Construction Engineering, which formerly participated in the construction of the Bird's Nest Stadium and Beijing Capital International Airport, faced various challenges when filling the sea among the coral reef. The method used in China didn't work out in the Maldivian project, the manager said. So, they invited top domestic and overseas research institutes and companies to solve the problem.

Yang Yang, deputy head of the Party work department of the international business sector, said mechanized operations almost replaced human labor at the construction site.

"Bulldozers, sand pumping vessels and excavators functioned well by themselves," Yang said.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/14/2017 page27)