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Feature: Many thanks from an Ecuadorian earthquake survivor

Xinhua, November 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

"Thanks" has been the word repeated many times by Pablo Cordova during his chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. President for your country's aid to Ecuador," the 52-year-old told Xi at the ECU-911 headquarters in Quito.

The Chinese aid includes ECU-911, Ecuador's national emergency response system developed by a Chinese company, which helped Cordova survive a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April.

The quake flattened the hotel where he worked in Portoviejo, a city in the western Manabi province. He had been trapped under debris for 46 hours before he was rescued thanks to a successful ECU-911 call he made.

Cordova was among the numerous survivors who owed their lives to the ECU-911 alarm line.

President Xi, holding his hands and looking into his eyes, was so kind to ask how seriously he was injured in the dark hours under debris, Cordova told Xinhua later.

He described his conversation with Xi as the "greatest honor in his life."

The Chinese president, in the company of his Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa, saw at the ECU-911 headquarters an exhibition about China's support in the wake of the quake that killed about 700 people, injured 5,000 others and made 80,000 homeless.

China was one of the first countries to offer humanitarian aid after the quake. Its assistance included 2 million U.S. dollars of cash and humanitarian aid worth 9.2 million dollars.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies operating in Ecuador supplied personnel and resources to affected areas to join the relief work.

It was by no accident that Cordova met the Chinese president at the ECU-911 headquarters. Hearing his survival story, President Correa helped him find a job in the ECU-911 center in Portoviejo.

Currently, there are 16 ECU-911 centers across the South American country.

"ECU-911 is an efficient relief command center in response to disasters, but in daily life, it works as a security network," said Liu Liehong, general manager of the China Electronics Corp.

The nationwide system, with its construction started in 2011 by a subsidiary of the Chinese corporation, has helped bring down crimes in Ecuador.

A joint ECU-911 laboratory with Ecuador is expected to upgrade the existing system so as to further enhance the country's public safety management.

On Friday, Xi and Correa officially inaugurated the lab at the ECU-911 headquarters.

Correa commended the ECU-911 system as exemplary in the cooperation between Ecuador and China. Its advanced technology and management has made Ecuador "one of the safest countries in Latin America," he said.

Xi arrived in Ecuador for a state visit on Thursday. He is now in Peru, the second stop of his ongoing Latin American tour, for the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting and for a state visit. After that, the Chinese president will go to Chile. Endi