SOEs foray abroad with greener roadmap

Chinese builders strive to deliver transformative projects to BRI countries, regions

China's State-owned enterprises are actively building eco-friendly infrastructure projects in economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative to enhance their development resilience and achieve green growth, market watchers and business executives have said.

Chinese SOEs, which have tremendous experience in technology accumulation and practices in the domestic market, are capable of spearheading these transformational projects, which include onshore and offshore wind power units, photovoltaic power stations, pumped storage power plants and sewage treatment facilities, they said, acknowledging the importance of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

"These firms are leveraging their capabilities to explore and implement eco-friendly infrastructure solutions, which not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also promote sustainable development," said Jiang Yu, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Such moves, he said, are aimed at maximizing energy efficiency, minimizing waste and adopting renewable energy sources wherever possible across the world, particularly in countries and regions participating in the BRI.

China has notable advantages in the field of new energy, making it a valuable partner in assisting developing and least-developed countries in establishing diverse renewable energy projects, said Ryad Mezzour, Moroccan minister of industry and trade.

These initiatives encompass a wide range of solutions, such as solar power plants, wind farms and hydropower units.

By collaborating with China, several countries have the opportunity to leverage Chinese expertise in the renewable energy sector. Such partnerships hold potential in not only improving the quality of life for residents in many countries, but also in enhancing energy security, said Huang Qunhui, director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

For instance, China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd, a subsidiary of State-owned China Energy Engineering Corp, said in July that it had started building the main section of the Upper Cisokan pumped storage power plant in West Java, Indonesia.

As one of the landmark projects of China Energy under the BRI, it is aimed at the energy transformation of Indonesia and helping its government achieve a target of renewable energy accounting for 23 percent of its total energy mix by 2025.

Once completed, the plant will have an installed capacity of 1,040 megawatts, supplying 147.9 million kilowatt-hours of green power to the Java-Bali grid annually, said Sun Changzhong, vice-president of China Gezhouba Group's international business unit. It will also greatly enhance peak-shaving capacity and power grid stability in the region, he added.

The Dubai Shindagha Corniche Viaduct Project in the United Arab Emirates, which has 24 continuous girder bridges in its main structure, was completed by China State Construction Engineering Corp (Middle East) LLC, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp, last year. Among these, three are cast-in-place continuous box girders, and 21 are prefabricated segmental assembly bridges, totaling 1,901 segments.

The project adopts bridge erection with "short-line segmental beam prefabrication and assembly "green construction technology, the Beijing-based CSCEC said in a statement in July.

The new traffic corridor connects the new and old urban areas of Dubai, shortening the average commute time in the Shindagha area to 16 minutes from 110 minutes previously.

It also alleviates traffic congestion in the old urban areas of Dubai, improves travel convenience for residents, and supports the high-quality development of regional cities, CSCEC said.

Huge initiative

The BRI has brought in huge investments through thousands of cooperation projects in countries and regions involved over the past decade, creating 420,000 jobs and lifting 40 million people out of poverty, data from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed.

The collaborative spirit within the BRI fosters an exchange of knowledge, expertise and best practices among participating economies. Through this collective approach, the goal is to jointly address environmental challenges, boost green and digital economies, as well as improve the overall quality of life of people in the countries and regions involved, said Yu Xiaohong, vice-president of the China International Contractors Association, which helps Chinese companies secure business in overseas markets.

Aviation Industry Corp of China Ltd, the country's main aircraft maker that has exported many jets and helicopters to Africa, is building a large airport in Angola.