Cambodia starts to build bridge across Mekong River with funds from China
Turkey exports boron ore to China by rail for the first time
The departure ceremony of the third Turkish export freight train to China was grandly held at Ankara railway station. The train is loaded with 1000 tons of boron ore and 42 containers in total. The train departs from Turkey and will pass through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and finally arrive at Xi’an, China, with a total distance of about 8000 kilometers and a running time of 12 days. The train passes through Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transnational railroad, which is an important part of Asia-Europe continental transportation network.
Egypt and China Building for the Future
https://www.mei.edu/publications/towering-ambitions-egypt-and-china-building-future
- Central Business District (CBD) of the country’s New Administrative Capital
- Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (SETC-Zone)
- electric vehicle sector
- a light rail network connecting Cairo with surrounding districts
- Ain Sokhna refinery project
- high-speed electric railway between Ain Sokhna and El Alamein
- container terminal inside the Abu Qir Naval Base, on the central Mediterranean coast.
- three solar power stations at the Benban Solar Energy Park in the southern governorate of Aswan
- an industrial complex for the production of solar panels
- African hub for manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine. 12-11-20 Egypt is negotiating with relevant Chinese companies for the local mass production of China’s new coronavirus vaccine, Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed . Egypt is negotiating financially over the cost of obtaining a production license.
- national roads project
Croatia PM on BRI to Pompeo
Cauchari photovoltaic solar project in Jujuy Province, Argentina
9-26-20 The China-built Cauchari photovoltaic solar project in Jujuy Province, Argentina, the largest solar project in the country was put into use on Sat. The project is to bring self-sufficient electricity and an annual income of $50 million to the province.
Construction on the 300MW Cauchari solar project phase one was started in October 2017, with an investment of £301m ($390m). The phase one was inaugurated after the completion of trial run in October 2019.
The 300MW Cauchari solar farm, with an estimated lifespan of 25 years, is expected to generate approximately 660GWh of clean electricity a year, which will be enough to power more than 160,000 households.
It is further planned for a 200MW expansion in the next phase to bring the total capacity to 500MW, which will be enough to meet the electricity needs of approximately 260,000 Argentine homes.
Chinese railway construction giant inks contract linking Moscow and Kazan
China Railway Construction Corporation International (CRCCI) announced on Tuesday that it has inked a construction deal to build a section of the Moscow-Kazan Highway project in Russia. The project is worth 5.2 billion yuan ($767 million). This is the first time that a Chinese company has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a national highway project in Russia. The Moscow-Kazan Highway is part of the Russian section of the Europe-Western China Transport Corridor, a megaproject that connects Russia, Kazakhstan and China. CRCCI will be in charge of building a 107-kilometer-long section of the Moscow-Kazan Highway, with a total length of 729 kilometers. It is expected that by its completion in 2024, the travel time from Moscow to Kazan, the sixth-largest city in Russia, will be shortened from 12 hours to 6.5 hours.
Freight train from YiWu, China to Europe
China’s first exported ultra-large-diameter shield machine penetrates first tunnel
我国自主研制出口海外的首台超大直径泥水平衡盾构机，打通了孟加拉国历史上第一条水下隧道——Chittagong Karnaphuli River Tunnel卡纳普里河河底左线隧道。
Ahmed, chief engineer of Bangladesh Bridge Authority, has said, “It has always been the dream of the people of Bangladesh to build a tunnel and we want to make Chittagong as good as Shanghai.” With the completion of the tunnel, the drive from Chittagong airport to the industrial park will be reduced from four hours to 20 minutes.
The Karnaphuli River Bottom Tunnel project in Bangladesh is an important part of the China-Bangladesh-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which is an important part of the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative to improve the Asian Highway Network. The shield machine used for tunnel boring is developed by CCCC Tianhe, with a diameter of 12.12 meters, length of 94 meters and weight of more than 2,200 tons, which is the first Chinese extra-large diameter shield machine to enter the overseas extra-large diameter shield market monopolized by developed countries. The single-lane shield section of the Karnaphuli River bottom tunnel is 2450 meters long, with a maximum tunnel cover depth of 31 meters and a design soil and water pressure of 0.59 MPa. The geology is mainly powdery sand, which is prone to sand liquefaction, mud cake on the cutter plate, cutting surface collapse, mud outlet blockage and other construction problems. CCCC-TIANHE has designed the shield machine specifically for this purpose, adopting many original technologies such as appropriate cutter disc anti-mud-cake design, mud-water system stratified backwash technology, intelligent anti-sedimentation control technology, and automatic control of mud-water circulation system. The shield machine has achieved the fastest 10 digging rings per day (2m/ring) and 171 digging rings per month during the construction. The shield machine was received in the form of a steel sleeve. After receiving, the shield crane will move horizontally and turn 180° to prepare for the second start of the right tunnel.
孟加拉大桥局总工程师艾哈迈德曾表示：“修建隧道一直是孟加拉国人民的梦想，我们希望把吉大港建设得像上海一样好。”隧道完工，吉大港机场至工业园的车程将从4小时缩短到20分钟。
孟加拉国卡纳普里河底隧道工程是中孟印缅经济走廊的重要一环，是国家“一带一路”倡议中的重要组成部分，对完善亚洲公路网。用于该隧道掘进的盾构机由中交天和研制，刀盘直径达12.12米、长94米、重2200余吨，是中国首台走出国门，进入由发达国家垄断的海外超大直径盾构市场的超大直径盾构机。卡纳普里河底隧道单线盾构段长2450米，隧道最大覆土深度31米、设计水土压力达0.59兆帕，以粉细砂地质为主，极易发生砂层液化、刀盘结泥饼、切削面坍塌、排泥口堵塞等施工难题。中交天和为此对盾构机进行了针对性设计，采用适宜的刀盘防结泥饼设计、泥水系统分层逆洗技术、智能防沉降控制技术、泥水循环系统自动控制等多项自创技术。该盾构机在施工掘进中实现了最快日掘进10环（2米/环），月掘进171环的好成绩。此次盾构机采用钢套筒形式接收。盾构机接收完成后，将平移并180°转体，进行该项目右线隧道二次始发准备。
China holds meeting with Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan as tensions simmer with India
The video conference on Monday, which focused on coordinating the coronavirus response, took place as border tensions also simmer between India and some of its other neighbours, including Nepal and Pakistan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted the call, said the four countries should strengthen their connections for regional peace and security, and called for more cooperation to prevent the cross-border spread of the virus, according to a foreign ministry statement.
But the talks went beyond the pandemic, veering into areas that are likely to displease India.
Representing Pakistan, economy minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar praised cooperation on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which India has not joined because it passes through disputed parts of Kashmir that New Delhi views as being occupied by Pakistan.
Bakhtyar also called for an end to the “military siege” of “Indian occupied” Jammu and Kashmir to allow international health experts access to the region.
Both Pakistan and China lodged stern protests after India withdrew the special status of the disputed region of Kashmir and Ladakh last year, a move that affected contested territories claimed by both China and Pakistan in their border regions with India.