BRI gives students new horizons

Wider career platforms

Engineer Jiang Ning, an operations manager from the China National Petroleum Corp working in the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant, says the BRI project has made him proud.

Jiang, a graduate from the China University of Petroleum, has devoted himself to the construction and operation of the Yamal LNG plant, a joint-venture exemplar project under the BRI since 2015 far inside the Russian Arctic Circle. The project has gathered managers, experts and workers of different nationalities including China, Russia and France, to the northeast part of the Yamal Peninsula, Russia, working on the production, liquefaction and shipping of the vast gas reserves.

"Our friendships grow day by day while working together on the same project in a place covered in snow and ice," says Jiang.

The 34-year-old has been engaged in problem-solving and analysis and working with stakeholders and construction companies.

"I have to attend about 10 meetings in a single day to figure out solutions that can be accepted by all the partners," he says.

Although a veteran LNG expert who worked in similar projects before, Jiang says he learned a lot on the Yamal project.

"The project gathered the world's top-class energy companies, construction firms and technical support, which broadened my horizons and helped me understand the organizational cultures in different countries," he says.

The Arctic can be demanding with its freezing weather, howling winds, sunshine at night and dark winter days. He missed his family, especially his son, who was only half a year old when he left for the Yamal project about four years ago.

He was sad that he missed his son's early years. But he takes pride in his project. "There are over 30,000 people working together to build up the plant from scratch, which is really encouraging," says Jiang.

Before 2018, he recalls, he had been the only Chinese manager at the site. When he successfully solved a tricky problem, his foreign colleagues would say "the Chinese man is really awesome".

"That made me feel a strong sense of fulfillment," says Jiang. "To work in an overseas project is never an arduous task for me, but a great chance to get ahead."