Wu Sheng, Dongfang Decoration Co
Wu Sheng expressed his pride towards being one of the participants in the construction projects involved in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
Wu is an employee of the Dongfang Decoration Co, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and he was awarded with a group of honorable titles by the company before departing for Pakistan.
Wu Sheng poses for a photo at the site of their decoration project at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Pakistan. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Wu was 28 years old when he was appointed as a section chief of Dongfang’s decoration projects in Pakistan in 2007. This was his first time working abroad.
The central Asian state brought unprecedented experience to Wu, who had not been to a foreign country before.
Besides the difficulties of daily life, the Chinese employees had to face the challenge brought by language. English is a must for their communication with the project owner in Pakistan. However, what they said did not always exactly convey their ideas. Wu Sheng decided to improve English in his spare time. Soon, he could express himself without difficulty while talking to local customers.
In the first two years in Pakistan, he was mainly engaged in the construction management of projects in Kamala and Islamabad. In 2009, he was appointed as the executive manager of a Software Technology Park in Lahore, the second largest city and an art and cultural center in Pakistan.
Wu Sheng measures the ground at a construction site. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
In October 2010, some of Wu’s colleagues were hit by dengue fever, an infectious disease spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever and joint pain, but severe disease may lead to death. Wu Sheng assisted the project manager to call a crunch meeting, explaining the cause, prevention and treatment of dengue fever.
Further emergency actions were taken to improve the standards of cleanliness in dormitories and the infectious workers were sent to the top-notch hospitals for treatment. In addition, they contacted the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan asking for help from local government and medical institutions.
The dengue fever was not the only threat that Wu and his colleagues had to face. A virus that broke out at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport posed a bigger threat to them. About 70 percent of employees at the construction suffered from it. Wu, who had gained experience in dealing with such emergencies in Lahore was assigned to take charge of the construction site.
He reconsidered the schedule and sent the uninfected workers back to China, so as to avoid exposure to the infection. Wu held fast to his own position to keep the project ongoing and deal with the affairs involved in the infected colleagues’ treatment.
At that time, Wu Sheng had served as a project manager of the decoration project at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport for three years. As an important part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the airport was not only a major project of Dongfang company’s involvement in the Belt and Road construction, but also of great significance to the intercommunication and mutual development of the two countries.
“Our goal is to improve the interior decoration of the airport and complete the project with high quality and efficiency,” Wu Sheng once said in an interview with CCTV.
On May 6, 2017, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif conducted a field inspection at the Bhutto International Airport, giving high praise to the quality and progress of the airport construction.
Currently, the Bhutto International Airport has been basically completed, and will begin trial operation in May 2018.
Ten years of arduous working made Wu an experienced project chief, who has accumulatedrich practical work experience and professional skills. In the future, he will continue working hard and devoting to explore better overall management of overseas projects.
(Executive editor: Hao Wen)
