Iraq used to have one of the best education systems in the Middle East, but years of war and conflict and underinvestment have severely damaged the country's education system. According to data from UNICEF, nearly 3.2 million school-age children in Iraq are currently out of school, and one out of every two schools needs to be repaired due to damage.

In order to solve the problem of going to school, the Iraqi government formulated a plan in 2020, deciding to build 8,000 new schools by 2030, and listed it as one of the most urgent livelihood projects. A total of 1,000 schools were included in the first phase of bidding projects, and China Power Construction Group Co., Ltd. undertook the construction of 679 schools in 10 provinces.

Zhao Jianlin from PowerChina Municipal Construction Group is currently serving as the project manager of the Iraqi Model School in Karbala Province. Karbala Province, located in central Iraq. On January 31, 2022, the day before the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, Zhao Jianlin arrived in Iraq. His China Power Construction Municipal Construction Group was responsible for the construction of 44 demonstration schools in Karbala Province. Due to Iraq's unique geography And natural conditions, Zhao Jianlin and his colleagues have experienced the test of continuous high temperature and sandstorm during the construction of the project for more than a year. In August last year, due to the unstable situation in Iraq, the construction project was temporarily suspended.

The construction site of the Iraqi Model School Karbala Province Project

In August last year, the first model school was successfully topped out in Karbala Province. Zhao Jianlin and the project team received a commendation letter from the Secretary-General of the Iraqi Cabinet, Hamid Ghazi. Zhao Jianlin said that after the completion of the first batch of demonstration school projects, it can solve the schooling problem of about 430,000 students in Karbala, which is of great significance to improving local teaching conditions.

Zhao Jianlin started working in 1993, and it has been nearly 30 years this year. In the past 30 years, he started as a project construction worker, to the construction team leader, manager assistant, project chief engineer, project manager, deputy general manager of the Middle East Management Department, and is now the project manager of the Iraqi Model School in Karbala Province. Over the past 20 years, Zhao Jianlin has spent almost all of his time overseas. He and his team have participated in the construction of 9 engineering projects and spent 13 Spring Festivals on overseas construction sites.

The Rawalpindi Sewage Disposal Pipeline Project in Pakistan is the first international project Zhao Jianlin participated in during his career. During the construction of the project, in September 2001, the 9.11 terrorist attack that shocked the world suddenly occurred. It is reported that the U.S. military may enter Afghanistan through the airport in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, and the war is imminent. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan took emergency measures to evacuate the personnel of Chinese-funded institutions in Pakistan.

Zhao Jianlin said: When we hadn't finished the topographic survey of the whole project, the 9.11 incident happened. According to the unified arrangement of the embassy and the project team, on September 26, 2001, 11 of the 14 members of the project team returned home first. The embassy staff and I were the last Chinese to evacuate on the flight, and the Chinese embassy was the last to evacuate. The museum organization, the project team left two people to successfully transfer the equipment to the Karachi base, and the project manager stayed to deal with contract issues, which reduced losses for the company. In the end, the project was successfully settled without loss.

On October 7, 2001, the war in Afghanistan broke out.

Looking back on his nearly 20 years of working experience overseas, Zhao Jianlin said that compared with domestic, sticking to his post overseas will face more practical and spiritual difficulties. At the beginning of 2008, when he was working in Angola in Southwest Africa, his grandmother and father in China passed away one after another, but he was unable to return to China due to work reasons. He still feels sorry for his family. At the same time, he also experienced the collapse moment when the built project was washed away by the flood. However, as always, he and his colleagues worked hard to do their job well in overseas construction. Zhao Jianlin said that only by delivering projects on time with quality and quantity can they win credibility and lay a solid foundation for overseas infrastructure projects.

Zhao Jianlin (first from the right) called on local elders in Karbala, Iraq

Zhao Jianlin and his project team are still building model schools in Iraq. He said that after more than ten years of wars and conflicts, rebuilding their homes is the greatest wish of the Iraqi people. In 2015, China and Iraq signed a cooperation document on the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the multi-field cooperation between the two countries has achieved fruitful results in the following years. China actively participates in the reconstruction of Iraq's energy, infrastructure and other fields, and provides assistance within its capacity for Iraq's economic and social development. At present, the Iraqi government regards achieving domestic reconciliation, severely punishing corruption, improving the investment environment, creating more jobs, and building infrastructure as key goals.

In recent years, with the gradual stabilization of the Iraqi society, the Iraqi government has continued to increase infrastructure construction efforts to improve the country's power shortages, urban traffic congestion and other issues. In 2014, the Huashide Power Plant Project, which was constructed by a Chinese enterprise and implemented by a subsidiary of Power China, was put into operation for power generation, effectively improving the power supply in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and its surrounding areas. In 2021, the 730-megawatt combined cycle power station in Rumaila, undertaken by PowerChina, will be connected to the grid for power generation, easing the power shortage in southern Iraq. Today, the power plants built by China provide half of Iraq's electricity supply.

Zhao Jianlin said that there will be more and more such projects in the future, which is a valuable opportunity for many Chinese companies going global.Editor/Ma Xue