A series of architecture-themed activities, including a thematic exhibition on the history of
Chinese architecture and the achievements of China’s construction industry and media tours
of major projects launched to improve people’s well-being in China’s Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR), were held in the region in late October.
When learning about touching stories about projects China has built to improve the well-
being of Hong Kong residents during the activities, people from all walks of life in Hong
Kong expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s development with the support of the Chinese
central government and their sense of pride as members of the Chinese nation in China’s great
strides in social and economic development.
They believe that the Chinese mainland always provides the strongest backing for Hong Kong
and that the region will certainly embrace a brighter future with the strong support of the
Chinese mainland and the central government of China.
Since the beginning of last year, Hong Kong has been struck by four waves of the COVID-19
pandemic. After the third and also the worst wave of the pandemic broke out in July 2020, the
region’s public health system was under great strain and its negative pressure rooms almost
fully occupied.
At the moment of crisis, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the HKSAR, sought help from the
central government of China, which promptly initiated projects to assist the region in building
a temporary hospital which was later named North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection
Control Centre and a community treatment facility at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE).
The municipal government of Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, was in charge of
the implementation of the two projects, while construction tasks were undertaken by China
State Construction International Holdings Limited (CSCI).
“We had to race against time in advancing the two projects,” said Zhang Yi, general manager
of a subsidiary of CSCI that engages in health care services and also the individual chiefly
responsible for the construction of the two projects. Zhang shared stories about the
construction of the projects at Hong Kong Polytechnic University during one of the
architecture-themed activities.
The temporary hospital, which covers an area of 3.2 hectares near the AWE, was designed to
provide negative pressure rooms with over 800 beds and other medical facilities, Zhang said.
It was built according to high standards for permanent structure and the construction time was
only four months, which posed great challenges to constructors, recalled Zhang, who believes
that the delivery of the project on schedule mirrored the strength of China’s construction
industry.
“From the two projects, we felt more strongly that the Chinese mainland has always provided
the strongest backing for Hong Kong,” Zhang added.
“I will always remember the experience of participating in the construction of the temporary
hospital,” noted Ho Wing Yin, director of the Architectural Services Department of the
HKSAR government.
The project has effectively improved Hong Kong’s capabilities to fight the pandemic, she
said, adding that the new technologies and methods used during the construction are very
important to the development of Hong Kong as they can be applied to the construction of
projects concerning people’s well-being in the future.
At the Tseung Kwan O Area 137 in Hong Kong, the construction of a seawater desalination
plant phase I project is proceeding in an orderly manner. The project is expected to become
Hong Kong’s first seawater desalination plant using reverse osmosis technology, according to
Zhang Ming, assistant president of CSCI.
The plant can produce 135,000 cubic meters of freshwater per day, which accounts for 5
percent of Hong Kong’s current fresh water demand, Zhang said.
A project aimed at moving the existing Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works in Sha Tin district
of Hong Kong to caverns in the Turret Hill, which nestles beside the Shing Mun River in Sha
Tin district, is being advanced vigorously.
The project has adopted many advanced technologies, pointed out Li Yifeng, manager of the
project with CSCI. The arms of an intelligent rock drilling machine are equipped with
microsensors, which can significantly improve the accuracy of blasting operation; and a small
robot is used as the “vanguard” for probing caves after the blasts, according to Li.
The relocated plant will employ the advanced moving bed biofilm reactor technology, which
will not only help solve such problems as bad smell and environmental pollution caused by
aging facilities of the old plant, but handle the treatment of sewage for one-tenth of Hong
Kong’s population, according to Leung Ka Chung, chief engineer of the Cavern Projects
Division of the Drainage Services Department of the HKSAR government.
Fueled by technologies, the new plant will become the largest underground cavern project in
Asia upon completion, the official said with pride.
CSCI has been deeply involved in the construction of a series of projects in Hong Kong,
which cover infrastructure, people’s well-being and residential buildings, according to Chen
Cheng, spokesperson of CSCI.
The company will continue putting its strengths to good use to help make Hong Kong
people’s life happier and contribute to the long-term stability and prosperity of the region,
stressed Chen.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum, which integrates classical and modern styles, is taking
shape at the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, which, with the Lantau Island
located to its west and the Victoria Harbour south, boasts a superior geographical location.
The museum will open to the public around July 2022, which will mark the 25th anniversary
of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, and become another cultural landmark in Hong
Kong.
When it opens to the public next year, the Hong Kong Palace Museum will put on display
about 900 exhibits from the Palace Museum in Beijing, including 166 first-class cultural
relics of China, said Louis Ng Chi-Wa, director of the new museum in Hong Kong.
With the support of the Chinese mainland and a global vision, the Hong Kong Palace
Museum will serve as an important platform for spreading Chinese culture, said the director,
who noted that the construction of many projects aimed at improving people’s well-being
couldn’t have been advanced without the support the Chinese mainland.
