Belt and Road construction brings benefits to Kyrgyz people
By
Liu Zhonghua, Pei Guangjiang, Qu Pei and Xiao Xinxin,
In
recent years, China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has
yielded fruitful outcomes.
The
road network rehabilitation project in Bishkek is an example of infrastructure
cooperation between the two countries. The project, contracted by China Road
and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), aims to improve the road network of the Kyrgyz
capital.
Many
roads in the city are in need of repair as they are bumpy and narrow. Currently,
Chinese and Kyrgyz builders are reconstructing the Repin Street, in the west of
Bishkek.
To
improve road conditions in Bishkek and deliver the benefits of China-Kyrgyzstan
cooperation to local people is a common concern of Chinese President Xi Jinping
and Kyrgyz leaders.
The
Bishkek road network reconstruction project started in October 2016, covering
49 streets and 10 bridges with a total length of 95.4 kilometers. To date, 47
roads has been constructed and restored. The wide and flat roads have given the
city a facelift.
El
Moke is an engineer of the project graduating from Harbin Engineering
University in northeast China. He has participated in the construction of 7
roads under the project.
The
project is the largest road network renovation project in Kyrgyzstan, he
introduced. Thanks to the project, a car trip from the suburb to downtown
Bishkek takes only 20 minutes, compared with 40 minutes in the past.
Kyrgyzstan
is rich in water resources, but due to a lack of capital and technology, only
500 of the more than 1,800 villages in the country had the access to
centralized water supply.
In
addition, the vast rural areas and city outskirts did not have conditions for
centralized water supply, and the concentrations of heavy metals and
microorganisms were excessive, posing severe challenges to rural water safety.
To
tackle the issue, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Kyrgyz National
Academy of Sciences co-established the Research Center for Ecology and
Environment of Central Asia (RCEECA) in Bishkek in 2014.
Chen
Xi, deputy director of Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the
CAS and director of RCEECA, said the center has helped to conduct Kyrgyzstan’s first
systematic study on drinking water safety in nearly 30 years after the
country’s independence, striving to develop the best and most suitable
implementation plan for water purification technologies.
Last
August, RCEECA established the first drinking water safety technology
demonstration site in Bishkek.
“Now
we have clean and safe water to drink. I think it tastes better than mineral
water,” said a female resident from a village 10 kilometers from Bishkek, giving
a thumb up to the project while fetching water from a tap. “With the
technologies, we don’t have to worry about having no safe drinking water,” she
added.
“My
fellow villagers are happier as we now have a convenient access to clean
water,” said the head of the village. Besides fetching water every day, the man
likes to visit the demonstration site when he’s free.
“The
equipment is a treasure of our village. Though it doesn’t need to be supervised
because it is self-cleaning and has a self-contained sewage system, I still
like to come and see it,” the man said.
Thanks
to the Datka-Kemin power transmission and transformation project jointly
undertaken by China and Kyrgyzstan, the central Asian
country has established an independent power grid system, met the
electricity consumption demand of residents in its northern part, and acquired
the capability to export electricity to neighboring countries.
Kyrgyzstan
was one of the first countries to support and participate in BRI. Kyrgyz
President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to
strengthen the alignment of the BRI with Kyrgyzstan’s 2040 National Sustainable
Development Strategy when they met in Beijing this April.
From
the Datka-Kemin power transmission and transformation project, to the
China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway, and the RCEECA, China-Kyrgyzstan
cooperation on Belt and Road has not
only benefited the local people, but also the other countries in the region.
“The
improvement of infrastructure has enabled us to better achieve connectivity with
neighboring countries, improved the efficiency of personnel exchanges, accelerated
the circulation of goods, and allowed our country to take a greater part in
Belt and Road construction and gain more from it,” said a coordinator of the
Bishkek road reconstruction project.
Source: People’s Daily
Visitors
read the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" at the Chinese Library at
Bishkek Humanities
University, June 10. Photo by Han Bingchen, People’s Daily
Belt and Road construction brings benefits to Kyrgyz people
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