THE WORLD CUP, an annual soccer tournament that takes place very four years, is running Qatar as we speak. The attention is most on the sports, except for the Western media, which is focusing mainly on the politics. But there’s another story too — the work that China has done in helping build the facilities.
For an overview of the Chinese contribution, you can scroll down for a text report. Or watch a video report, here:
One: World cup buildings are getting green electricity from a next generation power station which harvests only solar energy, built by the Power Construction Corporation of China.
Two: People are taken where they need to go in a fleet of 888 fully electric buses, made by Yutong Bus, a Chinese firm that has quietly become, as far as I can tell, the world’s biggest bus maker.
Three: The main stadium was built by China Railway Construction Corporation: that’s the firm that pops up in Africa and Europe and around the planet, known for its extraordinary ability to create infrastructure in difficult environments.
Four: What’s a sporting event without souvenir merchandise? It’s estimated that almost 70 per cent of World Cup related goods, from footballs to flags to jerseys to whistles, came from a single location in China, a southeastern city called Yiwu.
Five: A purpose-built extra-large reservoir is providing clean drinking water for sports people and fans. It was constructed by Gezhouba Group, from Wuhan.
Six: The stadium-building operations needed huge amounts of heavy equipment, from massive earth movers to cranes – nearly 100 of these were supplied by China’s Sany Heavy Industry, one of the world’s biggest construction firms.
Seven: The most innovative venue is Qatar’s Stadium 974, which can be disassembled and reassembled anywhere. Designed by a Spanish architect, the 974 building blocks were made by China International Marine Containers.
Eight: Notice all the LED floodlights everywhere? They come from the Unilumin Group of China.
Nine: Most people say airconditioners are a must for survival in that environment – and China’s Midea Co supplied 2,500 aircons for the event.
Ten: Last but not least, this is the most expensive sporting event in world history, and needed a lot of support from businesses. Nineteen China firms signed up to sponsor the event.
There’s a wonderful paradox about sports. Sports divides us into competitors—yet at the same time it gives us shared goals and so magically unites us at the same time. Gotta love it!