Recently, Beijing Urban Construction Group Co., Ltd. announced that the Balikpapan-Samarinda highway project contracted by the company was opened to traffic. At the opening ceremony, Indonesian President Joko Widodo fully affirmed the project's engineering quality, health and safety, and achievements in epidemic prevention and control, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to all employees of Beijing Urban Construction Group for their hard work.

The Balikpapan-Samarinda Expressway project is 97.27 kilometers long. It is the first expressway on Kalimantan, Indonesia. It also connects the planned new capital of Indonesia with Samalinda, the capital of East Kalimantan, and the province. The key passage of Balikpapan, the largest city. The project is a demonstration project in the multi-field cooperation between the two countries on the Belt and Road Initiative and interconnection. It will help improve the transportation facilities and logistics network in the East Kalimantan region, and promote the local economic and social development.

Keywords: One Belt One Road, overseas projects, engineering news

As the only Chinese-funded enterprise involved in the construction of the Balikpapan-Samarinda Expressway project, Beijing Urban Construction Group has overcome the difficulties of high temperatures, heavy rainfall, and difficult transportation of sand and gravel since the project started in August 2016. The construction and production were carried out in a reasonable and orderly manner, and the construction tasks of the fifth tender section were successfully completed. The construction was successfully completed and handed over on December 4, 2020. The construction quality has won high praise from the owners and local residents of the host country. Editor/Tian Zengpeng