Native name | 中国港湾工程有限责任公司 (Chinese) | ||||||
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Company type | Subsidiary | ||||||
Industry | Civil engineering | ||||||
Founded | 2005 | ||||||
Headquarters | Beijing, China | ||||||
Parent | China Communications Construction Company | ||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 中国港湾工程有限责任公司 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 中國港灣工程有限責任公司 | ||||||
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Website | www |
China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and bridge, railways, airports and plant construction. [1] It is the second largest dredging company in the world, carrying out projects in Asia, Africa, and Europe. [2]
The company was established in December 2005 during the merger of China Harbour Engineering Company Group (founded 1980) with China Road and Bridge Corporation into CCCC. [3]
In 2018, Sri Lankan State Minister of Finance and Mass Media Eran Wickramaratne called for an investigation into CHEC following reports that it had funded the campaign of Mahinda Rajapaksa during the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election. [4] CHEC denied funding the election campaign. [5]
The company was debarred by the World Bank for bribery in Bangladesh. [6] [7] [8] [9]
CHEC has won large contracts for dredging, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. In January 2011, the company was awarded a US$880 million contract for the first phase of the New Doha port project, which involved the excavation of 58 million cubic metres of material (covering an area of 3.2 square kilometres to a depth of 18 metres) and the building of an 8-kilometre-long quay wall and a 5 km rubble breakwater. [10]
China Harbour began working on projects in Sri Lanka in the late 1990s, initially as a subcontractor for other companies. [11] : 94 When the Sri Lankan government in 2007 sought loans from China to develop Hambantota International Port, China Harbour lobbied to hired for the project. [11] : 94 During the negotiations for loans, the Chinese government recommended China Harbour, Sri Lanka and the lender Export-Import Bank of China accepted, and China Harbour became the main contractor for the project. [12] [11] : 94
China Harbour's business in Sri Lanka grew rapidly from 2008 to 2010. [11] : 94 After the completion of Phase I of the Hambantota Port project, China Harbour became a leading infrastructure contractor in Sri Lanka. [11] : 94
The Bogota Metro announced on October 17, 2019, that Apca Transmimetro, comprising CHEC and Xi’An Metro Company, has been chosen for a $US 5.16bn contract to design, build, operate and maintain Line 1 of the Bogota metro. [14]
Transport in Sri Lanka is based on its road network, which is centred on the country's commercial capital Colombo. A rail network handles a portion of Sri Lanka's transport needs. There are navigable waterways, harbours and three international airports: in Katunayake, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Colombo, in Hambantota, and in Jaffna.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
Hambantota is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka.
China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited is a major conglomerate based in Hong Kong and is involved in a range of businesses such as port operations, general and bulk cargo transportation, container and shipping business, air cargo, logistics park operations and paint products. China Merchants Port is considered as a Red Chip company as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing. The company has port facilities in mainland China and Hong Kong, and the predecessor was founded in 1991. The predecessor of the parent company was established in 1872 and was the preeminent industrial and commercial group in mainland China. Before changing its name to China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited, the company was formerly known as China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited.
China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a Chinese majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure assets, including highways, skyways, bridges, tunnels, railways, subways, airports, oil platforms, and marine ports. CCCC has been a contractor for numerous Belt and Road Initiative projects. It is included in the Fortune Global 500 list for 2016.
The Export–Import Bank of China is a policy bank of China under the State Council. Established in 1994, the bank was chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and provide policy financial support so as to promote the export of Chinese products and services.
Sinohydro is a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company. In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, a ranking by annual revenue, the company is 14th by overall position, and 6th among Chinese construction companies.
Chamal Jayantha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician who was Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. Previously he served as Minister of Ports and Aviation and the Minister for Irrigation and Water Management.
The Port of Colombo Sinhala: කොළඹ වරාය, Tamil: கொழும்பு துறைமுகம் is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an important terminal in Asia due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. During the 1980s, the port underwent rapid modernization with the installation of cranes, gantries and other modern-day terminal requirements.
The Hambantota International Port is a deep water port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, notable for its 99-year lease to China Merchant Ports. Opened in 2010, it is Sri Lanka's second largest port, after Colombo. In 2020, the port handled 1.8 million tonnes of cargo.
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He is the eldest son of former President and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and a member of parliament. He was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2020 to 2022.
Port City Colombo, is a multi-services special economic zone located in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is currently under construction on reclaimed land adjacent to the Galle Face Green. The land reclamation work had been completed as of January 2019. In 2017, the cost was slated to be US$ 15 billion. Port City Colombo is a multi-billion-dollar FDI-funded Public Private Partnership (PPP).
China–Sri Lanka relations are the bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China and Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. There is a Chinese embassy located in Colombo and a Sri Lankan embassy situated in Beijing. Historical and cultural ties between the two countries extend back hundreds of years.
The Rajapaksa family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) (Sinhala: මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, romanized: Mattala Rājapakṣa Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; Tamil: மத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ சர்வதேச விமானநிலையம், romanized: Mattala Rājapakṣa Carvatēca Vimāṉanilaiyam) (IATA: HRI, ICAO: VCRI) is an international airport serving southeast Sri Lanka. It is located in the town of Mattala, 18 km (11 mi) from Hambantota. It is the first greenfield airport and the third international airport in the country, after Ratmalana International Airport and Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.
Yanjian Group is a Chinese construction and engineering company. It is one of the 250 largest international contractors in 2013 as reported by Engineering News-Record magazine.
Corruption in Sri Lanka is considered a major problem in all levels of society, from the top echelons of political power to minor staff levels.
Debt-trap diplomacy is a term to describe an international financial relationship where a creditor country or institution extends debt to a borrowing nation partially, or solely, to increase the lender's political leverage. The creditor country is said to extend excessive credit to a debtor country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions when the debtor country becomes unable to meet its repayment obligations. The conditions of the loans are often not publicized. The borrowed money commonly pays for contractors and materials sourced from the creditor country.
Denagama Vitharanage Chanaka Dinushan is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was elected as the United People's Freedom Alliance candidate, representing the Hambantota Electoral District at the general parliamentary elections held in August 2015.
The Sri Lankan economic crisis is an ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka that started in 2019. It is the country's worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. It has led to unprecedented levels of inflation, near-depletion of foreign exchange reserves, shortages of medical supplies, and an increase in prices of basic commodities. The crisis is said to have begun due to multiple compounding factors like tax cuts, money creation, a nationwide policy to shift to organic or biological farming, the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. The subsequent economic hardships resulted in the 2022 Sri Lankan protests. Sri Lanka received a lifeline in the form of an Indian line of credit amounting to $4 billion. This substantial credit infusion served to cover the costs of importing essential goods and fuel. As a result, the foreign currency reserves of debt-ridden Sri Lanka experienced a notable improvement, reaching $2.69 billion.
Two media reports on alleging that CHEC had funded the Rajapaksa campaign ahead of the January 2015 election appeared in local newspapers in July 2015 and May 2016, citing the investigating agencies as the CID and the FCID.
The first major loan it took on the project came from the Chinese government's Export-Import Bank, or Exim, for $307 million. But to obtain the loan, Sri Lanka was required to accept Beijing's preferred company, China Harbor, as the port's builder, according to a United States Embassy cable from the time, leaked to WikiLeaks.