China-Nepal Ties: Chinese firms aid quake-stricken Nepalese villages

World
Europe

02:11

Now to Nepal, the country continues to recover from the magnitude-8.1 earthquake that struck there in 2015. China has been helping fix and rebuild local infrastructure through China Aid. Out of 25 projects, six have been finished. CGTN reporter Xu Xinchen visited one of the completed projects in a Nepalese village not far from the border with China.

39-year-old truck driver Dasangbu Sherpa is from a Nepalese village over 300 kilometers from the epicenter of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, but the quake was so powerful and ravaged the ground. Roads were destroyed, houses collapsed, and jobs were lost. Yet, he was able to find a job in the quake-stricken country working for China-Aid Post Disaster Recovery projects.

DASANGBU SHERPA NEPAL EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR "Since I started working again, financial pressure has become a lot less."

He has three kids, two of whom are in school. Sherpa is now working on a project building a new frontier inspection station for Nepal's Tatopani Rural Municipality, which borders China via the Zhangmu Port.

XU XINCHEN TATOPANI, NEPAL "This is the old Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station, forced to shut down due to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. And a flood in 2016 damaged it further."

Hua Zhandong is the chief engineer for the new Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station. Despite being a Chinese firm, 90 percent of the construction team are Nepalese workers. And they conquered many challenges to finish the job.

HUA ZHANDONG CHINA RAILWAY FOURTEENTH BUREAU "The project moved along during the local rainy season, which affected us a lot. The road outside is called the Anigo Highway. Rain would often destroy the roadbed and traffic would be gridlocked."

Nevertheless, the team finished the project in April, after a year of work. The facility is said to provide work, housing and warehouses for Nepalese border personnel. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Zhangmu Port on the China-Nepal Border.