POWERCHINA: on the road of high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road"

At the recently held Beijing International Investment Cooperation Seminar, Xiong Lixin, Deputy General Manager of Overseas Department of Powerchina Group and Deputy General Manager of Powerchina International Corporation, said that Powerchina actively innovated the mode of "going out" of Chinese enterprises, adhered to the concept of green and developable, promoted the economic and social development of countries along the "the Belt and Road", and contributed more Chinese strength and Chinese wisdom to world development.
Xiong Lixin said that the current unstable, uncertain, and unpredictable external environment has become the norm. Negative situations such as the adverse current of globalization, escalating geopolitical conflicts, and high inflation have made the global economy move forward in difficulties, spreading to the international engineering industry, resulting in increased local protection, difficulties in financing new projects, rising construction costs, exchange fluctuations, and non-traditional security issues. Xiong Lixin believes that in order to promote the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road" construction, we should focus on the following three opportunities:
First, grasp the regular opportunities of infrastructure construction to revitalize economic development. Infrastructure has an industrial multiplier effect. Infrastructure is one of the vanguards and power sources for various economies to boost their economy, providing a relatively broad market for the international engineering industry.
The second is to seize the historic opportunity of global energy low-carbon transformation. It is expected that by 2050, solar and wind energy will account for 70% of the overall energy system, and about 80% of global electricity consumption will come from renewable energy. Vigorously developing clean energy has become the consensus and main direction of action in the global energy revolution and addressing climate change. Among the current numerous uncertainties, the green and low-carbon transformation of global energy is one of the few deterministic factors.
Third, seize the revolutionary opportunity of technological innovation industry transformation and upgrading. Grasp the technological development trend of the industry, such as new energy+energy storage, hydrogen energy, carbon capture, utilization and storage, ultra-high voltage power transmission, intelligent power distribution, virtual power plants, etc. in the field of energy infrastructure. Empowering traditional industries through technological innovation iterations to achieve leapfrog development of the industry.
Recently, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council released the "Blue Book of Overseas Social Responsibility of Central Enterprises" for the year 2022, and the overseas social responsibility achievement case submitted by China Power Construction Corporation for evaluation, "Giving Play to the Advantages of Central Enterprises, China's Contribution to Promoting the Win-win Development of Overseas Responsibility Fulfillment", was successfully selected. POWERCHINA is a leading enterprise serving the construction of the "the Belt and Road", ranking 100 among the Fortune Global 500 enterprises in 2022, the first among ENR's top 150 global engineering design companies, and the fifth among ENR's top 250 global engineering contractors. POWERCHINA is the world's largest power engineering contractor. The company's business covers more than 130 countries and regions, with over 130000 employees engaged in overseas business. Up to now, POWERCHINA has executed more than 2000 project contracts in countries along the "the Belt and Road", with a total contract value of more than 640 billion yuan. In the total construction volume of the "the Belt and Road" in China's foreign contracting industry, the newly signed contract amount of POWERCHINA accounts for more than 15%, and the operating revenue accounts for nearly 10%.
Walking on the road of high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road", Xiong Lixin summarized that POWERCHINA mainly has the following three practices:
The first is to achieve sustainable development through high standard planning. PowerChina has the technical advantages and advanced experience of high-end planning and consulting, and has been entrusted by the government to organize the preparation of many top-level industry plans such as China's "14th Five Year Plan" renewable energy development plan, China Pakistan Economic Corridor energy plan, and China Myanmar electric power cooperation plan.
Taking the cascade hydropower stations in the Nam Ou River basin of Laos as an example, China Power Construction Corporation has scientifically planned and creatively proposed a Chinese plan of "one reservoir, seven stages" and two-stage development, maximizing the integration of ecological, social, and economic benefits. The project has provided a total of over 8000 jobs, newly reconstructed and expanded more than 500 kilometers of roads, built over 20 bridges, and a large number of docks, schools, markets, and hospitals, winning unanimous recognition from the Lao government and local society.
The second is to create a high standard and high-level landmark project through technological innovation. With key technological innovation support in new fields, digital construction, smart construction sites, and green construction as its main research directions, PowerChina has built the Nuo Phase II Photothermal Power Plant with the largest installed capacity in the world, the Nuo Phase III Photothermal Power Plant with the largest tower type molten salt The first overseas wind power project using Chinese standards, Ethiopia's Adama Wind Farm, and Singapore's Tuas Water Purification Plant, which digitally empowers traditional industries.
The third is to fulfill the contract at a high level and consolidate the foundation for high-quality development. POWERCHINA attaches great importance to project quality. After decades of development and accumulation, it has formed the world's leading engineering technology strength and project implementation capability in the main industry. It has completed a number of key projects in high quality, including the first UHVDC transmission line in Latin America, the Brazilian Meili Mountain transmission line project, the Ya'an Wanzhou high-speed railway, the China Laos railway, Pakistan wind power cluster, and so on.
In Pakistan, since the 2015 Safire Wind Power EPC Project, PowerChina has lit up its brand influence in the Pakistan wind power market and established a good reputation for Chinese enterprises. Up to now, it has undertaken a total of 22 wind power EPC projects, with a total installed capacity of over 1090MW, accounting for over 60% of the wind power market share in Pakistan, making positive contributions to the energy cooperation in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the economic and social development of Pakistan.
Xiong Lixin believes that in the future, enterprises' overseas operations should actively implement the green development concept and the 2030 sustainable development agenda of the United Nations, focus on building a green silk road, and promote high standards of green design, construction, and operation. He suggested that the "the Belt and Road" construction project should continue to focus on promoting employment, increasing tax revenue, poverty alleviation and capacity building while enhancing the sense of gain of local people, so as to achieve mutual benefit and common development with local governments, enterprises and people.