Feature: Chinese companies, engineers braving perils to build better future for war-ravaged Afghanistan

Despite post-Taliban violence and conflict still occurring in Afghanistan, Chinese companies have been steadily accessing the war-torn country's markets to play an active role in its reconstruction.

China Rail Shisiju Group Corporation joined the Afghan reconstruction process in 2002, shortly after the fall of the Taliban.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Wang Zhiqiang, an engineer and General Manager of its Afghan Branch who has been working here for almost 10 years, explained how the company moved beyond China and into the world.

Afghanistan is the first country that the company has engaged with. The country is regarded as a cradle for senior overseas managers as almost all the leaders of its overseas branches have been working here in Afghanistan.

Engineers of the China Rail Shisiju Group Corporation typically say, "If you can do a good job in Afghanistan, then you can do so anywhere."

In 2005, the company stepped up its overseas business, launching an intensive training program for the would-be overseas professionals.

Just a few months prior to this, one of its construction sites in Afghanistan was attacked, killing 11 Chinese workers. Yet Wang Zhiqiang was determined to commit himself to working overseas, despite the possibility of facing such perils.

And so it was that in 2006, Wang was dispatched to India and ten months later, he was transferred to Afghanistan to take charge of a construction site.

"The moment I arrived in Kabul, I went to the construction site directly because of an urgent need." Wang recalled.

The project, a road to connect Maydan Shahr and Bamyan, was in Wardak province, which was accessible only by car.

"Driving our car on the dilapidated road in the vast waste land, with helicopters hovering overhead, I felt a bit nervous, because my colleagues told me that one day when they were working, they saw one of our men driving a car hit by a roadside bomb, although luckily he made a narrow escape with his life."

"We were also caught up in live exchanges between the U.S. army and the Taliban militants near our base. The U.S. snipers aimed at us so we immediately got out of car with our hands raised to show them we were Chinese engineers. That was a very dangerous moment as if we had driven further, we might have been shot."

That was not the only danger. Wang added, "there was a time we were making concrete for a bridge and gunfire rang out just three or four kilometers away from us. If we stopped working then all our previous efforts and all the materials would have been wasted. We had to continue making the concrete amid the gunfire."

Besides security challenges, Shisiju Group was in great need of local skillful workers. Localization is key for many companies to go global as it promotes domestic employment and enables the parent companies to send less homegrown workers and reduce risks. Shisiju Group, therefore, has gone to great lengths to train and build local teams.

Now it has a stable and reliable local team with many employees having worked in the company for as many as 10 years.

Najibullah Ali, a Kabul resident, has been working in the company since 2005 when he was only 17. "Fourteen years ago my father died and my salary was very low. When I joined the Shisiju Group, I learned a lot of new skills. First I worked as an interpreter, now I am a manager's assistant. My livelihood has improved dramatically and I've been able to get married, have three children and I own a house and a car."

"The only way to have a better life is to work hard and be honest. I am grateful to this Chinese company. And Mr. Wang is very kind to us and has taught me a lot," said Ali.

Here in Shisiju Group, many young Afghans grow to become skillful engineers or managers and in doing so change their own lives and make a contribution to their own country's reconstruction process.

Some local workers even go on to start their own businesses and still maintain a good relationship with Shisiju Group and keep in touch with their former Chinese colleagues.

To date, the multi-functional center in the Presidential Palace, which is also an important platform for multilateral diplomatic negotiations, the Science and Education Center, which doubles as a grand stage for cultural exchanges, the Republic Hospital, which provides healthcare for Afghans, are all former China-backed projects and built by China's Shisiju Group.

The post-Taliban years have seen both ups-and-downs for Chinese companies. Some experienced a great financial loss and had to relocate. Some Chinese engineers and workers have been kidnapped and killed.

It's difficult to operate businesses here for over a decade, both for the company and its staff.

This year, however, Shisiju Group has won a new contract, the ninth contract since the company has landed in Afghanistan.

"We will continue will continue to work here as by joining hands with the Afghan people," said Wang. Enditem