Media Coverage丨Global Times Highlights CAMCE’s Uzbek Olympic City Project
Recently, the Uzbekistan Olympic City was reported by the Global Times. It is one of the largest sport complex in central Asia undertaken by CAMCE, a member enterprise of CMEC Group, and designed by China IPPR International Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CMEC. It is reported that the super project a crystallization of Chinese technologies, speed and wisdom and has enormously changed the society and economy of the Central Asia.
CAMCE
The original report is as follow:
Editor’s Note:
Historically, Tashkent was an important hub on the ancient Silk Road, where Zhang Qian, Faxian and Xuanzang from China had left their footprints. Today, Chinese enterprises have designed and implemented a number of large projects in BRI participating countries. Recently, the reporter of the Global Times visited the super projects such as the Olympic City in Tashkent and the Qamchiq Tunnel (the largest railway tunnel in the Central Asia) undertaken by Chinese enterprises in Uzbekistan. The reporter has personally experienced the Chinese technologies, speed and wisdom in these projects and the enormous changes they have brought to the society and economy of the Central Asia.
Tashkent Olympic City - “It Will Become our National Icon”
Overlooking from the Chatkar Mountain, modern sports venues have sprung up in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, forming the Olympic City, which is Central Asia’s largest sport complex undertaken by CAMCE. In 2025, the 4th Asian Youth Games and the 5th Asian Youth Para Games are scheduled to take place here at the Olympic City.
Han Xueli is a business manager of CAMCE for the project. He shuttled between the project site, his office and relevant government departments of Uzbekistan in August. “You are here a little early, and the five major venues of the Olympic City are expected to be capped in the middle of this September,” said Han excitedly when he saw the reporter of the Global Times.
According to the plan, the Olympic City is a 100-hectare large sport complex consisting of five major gymnasiums and 15 stadiums. It is the first large Chinese-Uzbek cooperation project implemented after the 2022 SCO Summit in Samarkand and will become the largest sport complex in the Central Asia in the future.
The reporter of the Global Times has seen that as of the middle of August, the main venue where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 4th Asian Youth Game will take place, the modern cycling stadium, the natatorium and the multi-purpose stadium for ball sports had taken shape. According to Han, the highlights of the Olympic City project are the implementation of Chinese standards throughout the process of design, construction and acceptance, as well as the integration of lots of hi-tech, green and cultural elements. For example, in the Olympic City, a roof PV system with a gross installed capacity of 7MW will be set up, and the roofs of all parking lots and multiple-purpose stadiums will be covered with solar panels. For another example, by making the best use of the original terrain and reasonably distributing earthwork in the Olympic City, two beautiful landscape water systems with the function of rainwater regulation and storage have been designed. Moreover, with full consideration of local climatic environment, pipe fittings are pre-buried according to the requirements of drip irrigation at the time of landscape design to replace the spray irrigation or broad irrigation that was often used previously in Tashkent, reflecting the ubiquitous “environment-friendly” and “green” features of the sport park. In addition, 5G technologies are used in the Olympic City for smart operation of the gymnasiums and stadiums.
In the eyes of many Uzbeks, many Chinese ideas and standards are forward-looking. Moreover, due to the harsh local weather conditions, it is difficult to complete such a large project according to high-quality requirements by the end of 2024. Therefore, the project team of CAMCE spared no efforts on the project. “In summer, we work in the morning and evening as it is extremely hot in the daytime, particularly at noon. In winter, it is extremely cold and can even cause water pipes to freeze and burst, so we have to make arrangements for early hoisting of the upper steel structure before the winter comes,” said Han.
Besides the above skillful arrangements, the “hard power” of Chinese technologies also help a lot. “In order to follow the progress of the project in real time, we have adopted China’s BIM technology,” said Han, “As one of the most advanced digital management technologies in the project management industry, BIM technology makes it possible to precisely quantify all building components through 3D modeling and achieve digital management in the entire period of the project. In addition, it can precisely control the cost and usage of materials, minimize the inventory and management costs of materials, reduce the cost of materials and ensure the quality of materials.
The project has been widely acclaimed by the Uzbek side for its high quality and construction speed. “It is the first time to construct such world-class sport facilities in Uzbekistan. We are working with Chinese enterprises to create new standards. The project will drive the economic development of the country,” said Vakim Ankmatyev, a project process manager of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Youth Policy and Sports, in an interview with the Global Time. “I believe that the Olympic City will become a landmark building of our country. It is very important to our generation and the next generation,” said Vakim Ankmatyev.
The BRI Has Turned Uzbekistan from an Inland Country into a Transport Hub
The successful implementation and development of China’s super projects are backed by the further enhance political mutual trust between China and central Asian countries as well as the ever-growing overall national strength of China in recent years. Han told the reporter of the Global Times that the Ministry of Youth Policy and Sports and Customs of Uzbekistan and municipal departments of Tashkent were always ready to assist the Chinese side in coordinating and solving any problem arising in the construction process of the Olympic City.
“The Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a presidential decree to open a ‘green channel’ for our imported building materials and equipment, ensuring that the imported goods for the project enjoy zero tariff and can be rapidly delivered to the project site,” said he with emotion, “Uzbekistan’s high trust of and support for China is an important reason for the rapid implementation of super projects such as the Olympic City.”
In addition, the accelerated internationalization of Renminbi has greatly contributed to overseas implementation of China’s large projects. For example, as China’s first RMB sovereignty commercial loan project in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Olympic City project uses the mode of RMB loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Compared with financing through the capital markets in western countries, RMB loan costs less and is more affordable.
The super-large projects are reshaping the geographical pattern of the Central Asia. Take the Qamchiq Tunnel for example, it is expected to become a new hub along the China-Central Asia-Europe transport corridor and an important international transit corridor. “Over the past two years, the construction of the high-profile China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway has been put on the agenda. If the railway is successfully built, it will become the shortest and least time-consuming Eurasia land bridge,” said Zhou Xiaoguang.
Said Gasimov, former Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said in an interview with the Global Times that the BRI is turning Uzbekistan from an inland country into an important regional transport hub and facilitating Uzbekistan and other countries in the Central Asia to integrate into the global economic and logistics system.
“The infrastructure construction projects under the BRI make the Central Asia truly integrated into the Asia and closer to the Europe, and make China more important in our diplomatic system,” said Adil Kaukenov, Chief Expert at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies at an interview with the Global Times, “and this is the reason why central Asian countries have a positive attitude toward the BRI though western countries are skeptical about it.”
Upon its completion, the Olympic City will be used for hosting the 4th Asian Youth Games and the 5th Asian Youth Para Games in 2025. As China’s first RMB sovereignty commercial loan project in Uzbekistan, it will be provided with RMB loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and is of symbolic significance to promoting the internationalization of RMB.
