Nigerian artists perform traditional dance at the groundbreaking ceremony for the country's first rolling stock assembly plant in Kajola, Ogun state, Nigeria, Nov. 9, 2019. Chinese construction giant the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will build a rolling stock assembly plant in Nigeria to promote the country's railway modernization project. (Xinhua/Guo Jun)

Chinese firm supports highway project in Nigeria

A Chinese engineering firm on Monday said it will continue to support the ongoing construction of the trans-Saharan highway within Nigerian territory, with a timely completion of its road project in the central part of the country.

The trans-Saharan highway project is continental-scale infrastructure that passes through six African countries, namely Algeria, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Tunisia. It has the objective of contributing to the development of commercial exchanges through roads and promoting regional integration in Africa.    

Handling an important part of the project in Nigeria, the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) said it is paying serious attention to the development, for which it is handling the expansion of 5.4-kilometer Abuja-Keffi expressway and dualization of the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road in central Nigeria.

Mega water project to be implemented in Dhaka

A Chinese and Bangladeshi joint venture has signed a deal with the Bangladeshi government to implement a mega water project in Dhaka's Purbachal New Town under the country's Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday. 

The project will be implemented at a cost of a nearly 6 billion taka ($72 million) in phases by 2023.    

The Chinese United Water Corporation won the deal jointly with leading local company Delcot Water for the project, "Development of Water Distribution and Supply Facilities at Purbachal New Town through PPP," which is the first PPP project in the water sector in Bangladesh.

Purbachal, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, is the biggest planned township in Bangladesh, with large infrastructure including an international exhibition center which is under construction by another Chinese firm. 

The town in the northeastern suburbs of Dhaka is being developed as the first smart city in Bangladesh. It will be linked with eight-lane expressways from Dhaka's principal Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Road. The distance is only 6.8 kilometers.

'Green bus' goes for ASEAN market

China's Zhongtong Bus Holding Co and Malaysian automotive manufacturer Terus Maju Services (TMS) signed an agreement on Monday to develop new energy buses for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market.    

The agreement would see the two companies jointly develop buses for Malaysia's domestic market and other ASEAN markets including Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia, said TMS managing director Loo Kok Seong.    

He was impressed by the Chinese bus manufacturer based in East China's Shandong Province during a visit, which quickly resulted in a second trip and initial testing of the products offered.