2021 is the 8th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. On this road of joint construction, one after another international cooperation projects have taken root and blossomed, making significant contributions to the economic development of countries along the Belt and Road. Statistics show that as of June 2021, China has signed 206 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with 140 countries and 32 international organizations.

Over the past 8 years, we have also witnessed the touching stories of meeting each other and achieving win-win cooperation.

Today, many local employees are active in the Belt and Road industrial parks, engineering projects, and workshops all over the world. Some of them have grown to become technical backbones with their wisdom and hard work; some have expanded with Chinese companies across regions and moved to different countries and cities; some have achieved professional honors such as "first" and "first" in the country where they are located; Some have devoted many years to ports, electric power, water conservancy and other undertakings... Their common characteristic is that they seek development opportunities in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, devote themselves to their careers with a spirit of diligence and learning, and realize the resonance of personal development and the pulse of the times. Let's listen to the colorful stories of Belt and Road builders from different countries.

Bai Yang, Nigeria's first female train driver: more than 2,000 round-trips on one route

Driving a vehicle, thousands of passengers shuttle between the center of Abuja, Nigeria and Abuja Airport Station every day-this is the daily work of Issah Abiola, a local employee of China Civil Engineering Group Nigeria Co., Ltd.

Issah Abiola, whose Chinese name is Bai Yang, is a "female driver" of the Abuja Urban Railway and the first female train driver in Nigeria. From joining Zhongtu in 2008 as an office assistant, and later receiving professional training from the company, turning into a rail car driver, Bai Yang bravely pursued his dreams, and marked dedication and growth with hard work and sweat.

When he first joined the China-Turkey Group, Bai Yang never thought that he would become a train driver. But when she was a child, the memory of the railway tracks near her home was so cordial, and the roar of the railway often rang in her heart. She had an extraordinary feeling for the railway. "I like railways, especially China's standard gauge railways, which make trains run so stable and reliable." Bai Yang said.

Although he studied computer science in college and had nothing to do with railways, Bai Yang still signed up to learn train driving. The initial learning was very difficult. In order to let the Nigerian trainees learn immersively, the Chinese master created a "Made in Nigeria" cabin classroom, where nearly a hundred Nigerian youths studied vehicle maintenance, driving, communication systems and other professional courses. And practice will become the main force in the operation of urban railways in the future.

After more than 8 months of training, after the trials of failure and setbacks, Bai Yang finally passed all theoretical and practical exams and became a qualified light rail driver. On July 13, 2018, Bai Yang officially took office. "The first time I drove a train full of passengers during operating hours, I was very nervous, but my sense of responsibility was'overwhelming', and I couldn't tolerate the slightest negligence." Gradually, Bai Yang became more and more proficient in driving the light rail, and her life schedule was also different. The dispatch and receipt schedules of the Abuja Metropolitan Railway are the same.

Now, she has traveled more than 2,000 back and forth on this route. But every time she starts the train, she still has only one thought in her mind: "Behind me are thousands of passengers." She has higher and higher requirements of herself. The "three stables and one standard" of driving trains is to start, run and run smoothly. Stable parking and correct standards have become the gold standard for her work. Today’s Baiyang is familiar with the characteristics of each section of the Abuja city railway, and can even feel the different noises made by the train when it hits the rail and the bumps with only subtle differences...

Every working day, Bai Yang puts on the uniform of the Abuja City Railway, and also puts on a light makeup for himself. "It was the Abuja Urban Railway that changed my destiny, and I can be regarded as one of the service windows of the Abuja Urban Railway." Now, Baiyang can independently train local driver trainees. After work, she often goes to the scene to guide trainees. train. "I love this job. It not only brings me a considerable income, it is my dream since I was young, and it also gives many Nigerian youths the opportunity to work hard for their dreams."

Thasos Vamvakidis, Greece: Participate in witnessing the new life of Piraeus Port

"I was born in Piraeus, and I work and live here. My children and my family are all here." The Greek Tassos Vamvakidis is 64 years old and has joined the Greeks since the age of 16. So far, the "old pier" has experienced the prosperity, decline and revival of this port.

The port of Piraeus is an important port in Greece, but it was once in decline. In June 2010, COSCO SHIPPING officially took over Piraeus Port No. 2 and established COSCO SHIPPING Port Piraeus Terminal Co., Ltd. (PCT). This year, it also became a turning point for Piga and many people in Piga. It was at this time that Tassos joined the PCT as a business manager.

He said that when he first wanted to join COSCO SHIPPING, he saw the results of COSCO SHIPPING's transformation of Piraeus Port, especially its container terminal. "Before COSCO SHIPPING took over, customers suffered a lot of unpleasant experiences and the port did not provide the services they deserve. So when I learned that there was an opportunity to change these, I was happy to join COSCO SHIPPING." Tassos said .

At the beginning of the establishment of the PCT, the local society was still skeptical about the privatization of Piraeus Port. However, after the unremitting efforts of the Chinese management and Greek managers, the PCT gradually gained respect and confidence from the market and the public, and the container business volume of Piraeus Port was also Growing. Tassos recalled that fighting side by side with Chinese colleagues at that time was hard but meaningful. The PCT achieved its current results by "hard work."

Tassos himself is the best spokesperson for "hard work". As one of the first Greek employees to join the Chinese management team, he has witnessed the road to recovery in Piraeus and made his own efforts. In 2017, Tassos participated in the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation as a star employee of Piraeus Port. In the sub-forum of "People-to-People Connectivity", he told guests from all corners of the world about the development of Piraeus Port and its development in China. Greek story of the interaction between two ancient civilizations.

From 2010 to 2020, Tassos saw the throughput of Piraeus jump from 880,000 TEU in 2010 to over 5 million TEU in 2020, becoming the largest port in the Mediterranean. The port of Piraeus, the "golden" estuary in the thousand-year history of mankind, is shining brightly under modern investment operations.

Tassos often looks to the future. He said that Bigang needs to build a new container terminal with an annual throughput capacity of 10 million TEUs in order to obtain more development. The terminal marketing department where he works will continue to work hard to maintain and win more customer resources to make more Many goods and ships came to his hometown-Piraeus.

Latin American Project Management Actor: From on-site driver to business backbone

Production materials and accessories procurement, processing, maintenance, equipment leasing, living materials procurement, camp lighting, water supply, power generation and other equipment maintenance, as well as market surveys, some simple foreign business negotiations, communication and coordination... The Tenth Bureau of China Railway is located in Latin America In the project management company, you can find one person for all of these matters-Acdor.

The 40-year-old Ektor is a native of Latin America. He has worked in the 10th Bureau of China Railway for more than 5 years. He is now called a "all-rounder" in the project. But more than 5 years ago, he was just a live driver. During this time working in a Chinese company, he became an "accelerator" in his life.

"The reason why I chose to work here is that China Railway Tenth Bureau is a company with a solid foundation and dedicated to technological and industrial development, which allows me to develop better. I have learned a lot during these years." Ai Kedo said.

Ektor is enthusiastic, earnest, and has a strong sense of responsibility. Take the project department's material procurement, as small as a pencil, as large as the labor insurance shoes, clothing, gloves, etc. of more than 200 employees. All the procurement accounts handled by him are detailed and clear. For many years, as long as he is there, the company's logistics material guarantee has been reassuring.

"A lot of skills do not overwhelm you", Ektor's spirit and ability to work hard and good at learning has been praised by many colleagues again and again. In addition to the procurement of production and living materials, Acto also takes care of the procurement of maintenance parts for machinery and equipment. Large-scale mining equipment in mines often suffers from equipment failures, and some parts cannot be disassembled and purchased according to the comparison. In order to ensure the timely procurement of equipment accessories, he often travels to mine construction teams 100 kilometers away to check equipment failures with maintenance workers, and record detailed data about equipment accessories. Due to his non-mechanical equipment professional background, it is not easy to accurately grasp the accessory models. For this reason, he consulted professional maintenance workers while buying books to learn related knowledge, and quickly mastered the tricks. Now, as long as the maintenance worker tells the equipment failure, he knows what type of equipment parts should be purchased!

When the project equipment is transported, we will go to and from the transfer site more than 500 kilometers every week to successfully complete the task; when the heavy equipment fails, try to contact the manufacturer for after-sales; in the process of seaborne materials arrival at the port, we will solve the problem caused by the inadequate customs clearance of the agency. Problem... In daily work, "All-rounder" Ektor solves one problem after another for everyone with his tenacity. As a result, he has been repeatedly selected as "Excellent Foreign Employee of China Railway Tenth Bureau" by the project department.

But Ector's heart is more grateful. "Being able to grow from an on-site driver to a project manager is the Chinese company that gave me the opportunity, and it was they who changed the destiny of me and my family." Said Ektor.

Now, Ektor is learning Chinese. He hopes to go to China to take a look at the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Terracotta Warriors. He said that China's Mid-Autumn Festival is here, and my daughter loves mooncakes so much. In 2021, he will bring home the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes issued by the company! Editor/Tian Zengpeng