Liuzhou serving as a key hub for pivotal Belt and Road Initiative

Liuzhou, a heavy industry city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has a significant role in the Belt and Road Initiative, both technically and intellectually, local officials said.

LiuGong Machinery, a leading construction equipment manufacturer headquartered in the city, has a presence in 51 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-proposed plan to build a trade and infrastructure network to revive the ancient Silk Road routes.

At the same time, technical institutes in Liuzhou are cooperating actively with colleges in countries involved in the initiative, particularly those in Southeast Asia, to provide technical training for local people.

LiuGong, which launched China's first modernized wheel loader, is extending its range of products and services to help the construction of the high-speed railway between Thailand and China stay on schedule. Construction on the line began on Dec 22.

The company has provided 100 pieces of construction equipment for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and 90 for China-Laos railway projects.

LiuGong became involved in the Belt and Road Initiative much earlier, said Liang Yongjie, senior deputy general manager of overseas sales and marketing at the company. In 2015, the company launched a Belt and Road project together with the Guangxi government and the embassies of 11 countries.

"We have 112 dealers with 398 branches that cover 51 countries involved in the Belt and Road," Liang said. LiuGong has 20 manufacturing facilities worldwide, with divisions in Europe, North America, South America, India, Asia Pacific, Russia, the Middle East and South Africa.

The sales generated from Belt and Road-related countries account for 80 percent of LiuGong's global revenue.

Take India as an example. In 2017, LiuGong's sales growth climbed 54 percent compared to the previous year. Its wheel loaders and motor graders accounted for 20 percent of the market share in the country.

Liang said the company emphasizes the localization of different offices, with 93 percent of employees recruited from local areas.

LiuGong has also set up a center in Thailand to provide training for dealers in local communities. "We also hire local teachers to help remove language barriers, as many people in Thailand don't speak English," Liang said.

The company's education programs are drawing the attention of vocational schools in Liuzhou, as demand is high for skilled workers in railway projects along the Belt and Road.

Liuzhou Vocational and Technical College has a strategic cooperative relationship with LiuGong dating back to 2007.

So far, more than 300 graduates are employed by LiuGong, one-third of whom have worked in countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with some making it to the regional management level.

The two sides have established an international customer experience center, which will be a model example for joint cooperation between colleges and companies, according to Yang Xu, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee at the Liuzhou Vocational and Technical College.

Other vocational schools are taking advantage of the high-speed railway projects springing up across the region. Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College is rolling out international vocational education cooperation programs focusing on the Trans-Asian Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.

The college now educates professional teachers from ASEAN countries through its Sino-ASEAN Rail Transit Vocational Education Teacher Training Center.

According to Qiu Tongbao, the vice-principal, the center has held four training classes for 66 teachers from 12 colleges and universities in Thailand.

The first class for teachers from Indonesia opened in December.

The college has established the Sino-ASEAN Rail Transit Technical and Skilled Talent Training Base in cooperation with Thailand's Ayutthaya Business and Technology Institute, Tangen Vocational Technical Institute, Chonburi Technical College and Nakhon Nayok Commercial Polytechnic College.

The college has also jointly established the China-Thailand Rail Transit College with Rajamangala University of Technology Isan.

According to Qiu, to attract overseas students to Liuzhou for training, there are no tuition fees, and free meals and accommodation are provided. "All they need to pay is the round-trip tickets from their hometown to Liuzhou," said Qiu.

"We are also working on the forming of China-ASEAN Rail Transit International Vocational Education Group by working with universities, organizations and companies. It will be an international cooperation and exchange platform for resource sharing and mutual development," said Qiu, adding that an Indonesia-China high-speed railway institute is also being planned.

Jiao Yaoguang, vice-mayor of Liuzhou, said the city encourages vocational training schools to "go out" as local companies become increasingly influential in the global marketplace.

"It is important that we take advantage of our professional teaching resources," Jiao said. He said different vocational schools can participate in different ways, such as the Liuzhou Vocational and Technology College's focus on manufacturing and Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College's focus on high-speed railways.

"Or, for schools like Liuzhou City Vocational Technical School, they can participate in the automobile industry, or even tourism and culinary services," Jiao said.

As Guangxi is the only region in China connected to ASEAN by both land and sea, Jiao hopes that Liuzhou, as the region's industry and transportation hub, can serve as a front door for the Belt and Road Initiative.