Nabeel Hussain, a quality control engineer from Pakistan, has been working at the Iraqi project site for over a year. His sister's wedding fell in March. Although at that time there were flights between Iraq and Pakistan, considering the fact that it would be difficult for him to fly back to Iraq due to the pandemic, Hussain chose to stick to his post.

"The company has offered great support to us. With the pandemic going on, everyone should make his own efforts," Hussain said.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the hydropower project of Power China was making progress, volunteers from the company were publicizing epidemic prevention and control knowledge in local schools.

On March 10, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the country. The contagion prevention and control situation was not looking very encouraging at the time. A lack of information left locals generally unable to fully understand the outbreak. On one hand, people were afraid of the virus. On the other hand, they were not fully informed on how to best protect themselves.

"We hope to teach locals the right way to protect themselves and ease their anxiety," said Ma Yongjun, deputy manager of the Middle and West Africa department of Sinohydro Bureau 1 Co Ltd, a local branch of Power China.

The company organized local employees and translators to translate and edit epidemic prevention and control documents from China. Therefore, local students were able to learn about contagion prevention and control strategies.

The overseas project also offered employment for locals. Before working at Sinohydro Bureau 1 Co Ltd, Bungudi Buadia Rodrigue and his six other family members lived in the DRC in a house of less than 30 square meters. In 2015, Rodrigue was chosen by the company for his excellent driving skills. The following year, he built a new house for his family and lives a better life. Now, he plans to get married with his girlfriend when the pandemic comes under control.

Wu said China is among the countries that are willing to promote globalization. China's SOEs undertake major projects overseas, and host countries benefit.

The projects bring employment, improve local infrastructure, accelerate the region's industrialization, reduce poverty and therefore promote overall political and social advancement of host countries, he said.